COA to Capitol: Return P85.61M unspent PDAF

CEBU, Philippines - The Commission on Audit has asked the provincial government of Cebu to return to the national treasury the P85.61 million unspent Priority Development Assistance Fund it received from 2009 to 2013.

 This is in the light of the present controversy surrounding the PDAF and the Supreme Court  decision declaring it as unconstitutional.

COA recommended that the unspent funds be returned to the national coffer for it to be used for other priority programs of the government.

“In effect, the disbursement/release of the remaining PDAF funds allocated for the year 2013, as well as for all previous years, x x x which are, at the time the Decision is promulgated, not covered by Notice of Cash Allocations (NCAs) but only by SAROs, whether obligated or not, are hereby enjoined,” COA said.

The Provincial Legal Office, however, said that funds were not covered by the decision of the Supreme Court considering that these were allocated prior to budget year 2013 and were all covered by NCAs.

 “Accordingly, the inescapable conclusion is that the said PDAF funds are not covered by the permanent injunction and therefore the same can still be used and/or disbursed by the Province of Cebu,” it claimed.

 The Provincial Legal Office added that the subject decision did not encompass PDAF Funds which were already covered by NCAs that were channeled to the local government units like the Province of Cebu for its implementation.

Bulk of the P85,611,877.94 unspent PDAF funds as of December 31, 2013 belongs to former Rep. Pablo Garcia.

Garcia gave a total of P205,310,052 of his PDAF to the provincial government. As of December 31, 2013, however, P54,842,237.75 or 27 percent of the entire amount remained unutilized.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel’s PDAF was booked on June 30, 2010 in the total amount of P12 million for rehabilitation and improvement of barangay roads but P9 million remained unutilized.

Former Representative Pablo John Garcia gave a total of P39 million from June 2009 to July 2012 but P5,710,164.69 remained unspent as of  December 31, 2013.

 Representative Benhur Salimbangon also gave a total of P33.1 million from 2009 to 2012 for indigent patients of Cebu’s 4th District. The latest amount received was P3.5 million in December 2012. However, P3.8 million remained unutilized.

The other unexpended PDAF came from Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, P3 million; Senator Pia Cayetano, P5 million; Senator Franklin Drilon, P2 million; Senator Loren Legarda, P1 million; Senator Francisco Pangilinan, P1 million; Akbayan Partylist, P1 million; Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, P1 million; former Representative Teddy Casiño, P1 million; former senator Manny Villar, P100,000.

The record also shows that Representative Gabriel Luis Quisumbing gave a total of P9,750,000 to the Capitol for the procurement of multicabs wherein P49,500 is left unexpended.

Based on the status of the PDAF, COA said the provincial government shall determine if the conditions are met prior to the implementation of the projects funded out of the pork barrel.  (FREEMAN)