Coa: Questionable ngos still received pdaf in 2013

MANILA, Philippines - Despite being previously tagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) as “questionable,” some non-government organizations (NGOs) still received priority development assistance funds (PDAF), or pork barrel, from the government in 2013.

In a report released yesterday, the COA said some P15 million was released through the Philippine Forest Corp. (PFC) to three NGOs.

The PFC is a subsidiary of the National Resources Development Corp. (NRDC), an agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Two of the three NGOs that received pork barrel funds from the agency were among the 82 questionable organizations that received millions in public funds from 180 lawmakers from 2007 to 2009, as listed in the COA’s 2013 special audit report.

Records show that the PFC allocated funds to Kapuso’t Kapamilya Foundation Inc. (KKFI) and Maharlikang Lipi Foundation Inc. (MLFI) despite failure to liquidate and account for previous releases of P34.273 million.

KKFI, according to the COA’s special audit report, received P107.5 million in pork barrel from seven congressmen.

The organization supposedly used allocated funds to purchase livelihood technology kits, seedlings and farm implements for distribution to 42 barangays from 2007 to 2009, but “none of the selected recipients so far confirmed receipt… with 15 categorically denying receipt.”

The third NGO that received funds from the PFC in 2013 was identified as the Kalipunan ng mga Samahan ng Mamamayan Inc. (KASAMA).

In its latest report on the financial transactions of the PFC, the audit body said KKFI, MLFI, and KASAMA received more than P15 million worth of pork barrel funds in 2013, based on mere endorsements from nine legislators.

According to the report, the lawmakers who allocated money to the organizations were Reps. Evita Arago of the Third District of Laguna, Ponciano Payuyo of the APEC (Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives) party-list, Jose Bejamin Benaldo of the First District of Cagayan de Oro City, Nicanor Briones of AGAP (Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines) party-list; Salvador Cabaluna III and Michael Angelo Rivera of the 1-CARE party-list, Ramon Durano of the Fifth District of Cebu, Antonio Kho of the Second District of Masbate and Hadjiman Hataman-Saliman of Basilan.

The audit report said the grant of PDAF based only on the endorsements of congressmen violates the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) rules and regulations.

This was similar to the findings of the COA special audit report, which led to the filing of plunder and graft charges against businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and Sens. Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jinggoy Estrada, among others.

The COA noted that the PFC was designated as the implementing agency for the “Upland Agro-Forestry Development Program specifically for the Planting of Jatropha Curcas L.” under a forest management program.

However, state auditors said the money, drawn from the previous years’ PDAF, was released even when there was no provision in the 2011 General Appropriations Act (GAA) earmarking that the projects would be contracted out to NGOs.

“The P15.085-million PDAF released in 2013 to three NGOs were part of the unexpended balance of PDAF allocations in 2011 and 2012 of nine legislators, drawn from the fiscal year 2011 GAA. For the same project, two of these three NGOs were released a total of P75.250 million in 2011 and P10.475 million in 2012,” state auditors said.

State auditors said that the contracting of projects “was without legal basis as there was no provision in the 2011 GAA earmarking the said projects to be specifically contracted out to NGOs.”

“Besides, the selection of these NGOs was not also in accordance with the guidelines on NGO participation set forth under Annex A of GPPB Resolution No. 12-2007,” the audit team stated.

The COA report said the non-liquidation of the funds previously released to the NGOs casts doubt on whether the budget was truly expended for the purpose.

Findings also noted that the organizations were not based in the community where projects are located, “in violation of Section 4.4.1 of COA Circular No. 2007-001,” which requires such.

“In view of the deficiencies noted, there could be wastage of government funds and there was no assurance whether the purposes of the projects for which these were implemented have been attained,” the COA report said.

State auditors, based on the findings, tasked PFC acting president Analiza Rebuelta-Teh to take appropriate action against responsible persons who took part in the awarding of projects to KKFI, MLFI and KASAMA and those who caused the releases of funds to the organizations without compliance with the mandatory requirements of the COA.

The COA also recommended the submission of financial reports and supporting documents of the PFC to the audit team.

However, Teh said this could not be complied with due to the failure of the NGOs to submit the complete and original or certified true copies of the required documents.

“She (Teh), however, committed to send demand letters to the concerned NGOs for them to return the fund. If they will not be able to liquidate properly and fail to do so, the acting president will institute legal actions against the liable officers and employees and the NGOs,” the COA report said.