“Duterte needs to realize this.”
The 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) report is replete with concerns relative to the manner by which various government agencies used the people’s money allocated to their offices to carry out their mandate of serving the Filipino people.
The state auditors’ findings caught the ire of not many, especially since the concerned monies were intended to help ease people’s hardships during the pandemic.
On top of the list is the Department of Health (DOH). The COA 2020 report noted that the DoH failed to submit documentation or supporting papers for funds amounting to P67.3 billion. P42.4 billion of this amount consisted of fund transfers to procurement or implementing partner agencies without the required documentation such as Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and other supporting documents.
COA noted that these DOH deficiencies contributed to the delays in addressing COVID-19. Health Secretary Francisco Duque, in an emotional reaction to the findings, said that COA, in making its report public, has destroyed the department.
On the other hand, the COA report on the Department of Agriculture (DA) noted that the department had more than P9.8 billion in unspent funds, and committed accounting errors and/or omissions, and accumulated unliquidated expenses totaling P17.5 billion. Moreover, the DA had P2.2 billion of unobligated funds under Bayanihan I and II caused by delays in procurement processes and non-implementation of projects.
Our farmers were hit hard by the pandemic and the funds entrusted to the DA, especially the allocations from Bayanihan I and II, could have given them much-needed reprieve from suffering if only the DA was efficient in its use of the people’s money.
Further, the state auditors scored the Department of Education (DepEd) for deficiencies in spending P8.136 billion earmarked for Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). COA notes included lapses in budget utilization, noncompliance with the Government Procurement Reform Act, and issues on procurement, reproduction and delivery of self-learning modules. “The existence of errors and deficiencies in the self-learning modules, and procedural lapses in checking/review and evaluation process/system of the division, thus adversely affecting the quality of self-learning modules and the department’s objective of ensuring quality basic education.”
That the quality of basic education is adversely affected is evidenced by the many complaints and criticisms in social media on the contents of the learning modules approved for use by the DepEd. Needless to say, only DepEd can be blamed for these shortcomings. Not only was precious money wasted on modules that are inappropriate, erroneous, or outright wrong, our children’s education is put on the line.
The audit report on the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) revealed that P3.63 billion in projects released to national and local government offices, and non-government organizations (NGOs) remain unliquidated. Of the total amount, P2.6 billion consisted of fund transfers to LGUs for projects for poor and conflict-affected areas.
Perhaps one of the most controversial COA findings concerned the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA). This office purchased sanitary napkins and hygiene kits from an unlocated hardware store. COA asked OWWA to justify why it bought overpriced hygiene products from a construction and trading company that could not be located. Hygiene kits (not itemized at P160 each) and sanitary napkins (up to P35/pad vs. P5-8 from sari-sari stores) worth P822,420, and 50 pieces of thermal scanners (P2,950 per unit vs. P400 to 800 commercial price) were bought from MRCJP Construction and Trading in Pasay City.
COA also questioned why OWWA bought P300,000 worth of bottled water and local snacks from a catering business in Quezon City when there are big supermarkets in Pasay City where the OWWA offices are located. The total OWWA transactions described by the auditors as “doubtful” totaled P1,269,920.00.
A few days after this issue caught fire, OWWA said that they already found the company from which they bought the sanitary pads from.
Additionally, COA noted that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had P780.71 million unused cash intended as cash aid for Filipinos hit by lockdowns due to COVID-19. This finding covers DSWD field offices in the Cordillera Region and Regions 2, 7, 8, and 11. The unused cash was “due to the inclusion of unqualified beneficiaries in the master list, and consequentially depriving at least 139,300 families qualified for the program.”
COA also found “oversight” by the DSWD in the implementation of the assistance program for members of marginalized sectors in crisis situations in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Rizal (CALABARZON), and Western and Eastern Visayas. COA cited “deficiencies” in about P722.8 million distributed under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS). This is intended as immediate cash and material assistance for those who have gone through an unexpected crisis such as illness or death in the family.
Considering that too many of those who needed assistance did not receive any help, the DSWD must be held accountable for its inefficiency and incompetence.
Lastlt, the COA reported that the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTRFB) used only 1 percent or around P59 million of the P5.58 billion funds earmarked for assistance to public utility vehicles (PUV) drivers and operators. This means that as of December 2020, the LTFRB still had almost PhP5 Billion in its coffers while jeepney and other PUV drivers and their families were going hungry and resorted to begging on the streets. The inaction by the LTFRB is unacceptable and cruel. The funds could have gone a long way in helping thousands of our drivers and their families cope with loss of livelihood and aggravated poverty.
In response to the COA findings, instead of ordering his officials to shape up and immediately address the concerns raised by the State Auditors, President Rodrigo Duterte instead castigated COA, a Constitutional Commission, for doing its job. This is a far cry from his “report to me when you sense even just a whiff of corruption” line.
He should have realized that the COA report has given him the reason, at least some reason, why his administration is failing in this war against COVID-19. Duterte should have realized how inefficient and incompetent his officials are and how Filipinos are dying because of their inability to do their jobs.
Thanks to COA, especially its Chairperson, Michael Aguinaldo, the Filipino people are getting information on how our money is being mismanaged. This is beyond “whiff of corruption.” Duterte needs to realize this.
@bethangsioco on Twitter; Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook