‘OVP underspending in 2016 deprived poor of aid’

MANILA, Philippines -  The Commission on Audit (COA) has expressed concern over the failure of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to spend almost half of its medical assistance fund last year, which deprived thousands of Filipinos of the chance to avail themselves of financial aid from the government.

In a 2016 report released recently, state auditors said the OVP’s unspent budget of P89.269 million could have provided at least 3,500 cancer patients with chemotherapy sessions or supported 29,000 burials. 

Records showed that of the P219.963-million budget for financial assistance, the OVP spent only P130.693 million or 59.42 percent of the total fund for medical help, burial aid, relief operations, medical missions and purchase of wheelchairs.

The COA report said the unused balance represents “undelivered services that could have benefited more indigent Filipinos.”

“Utilization of appropriated financial resources is quite a concern for national government agencies. The reported downtrend in fund utilization compared with the worsening financial dearth among low bracket Filipinos suggests the need to look into the absorptive capacity of government agencies,” state auditors said. 

The COA report noted that P93.811 million of the financial assistance fund that was spent last year was utilized during the second half of 2016 during the term of Vice President Leni Robredo. The rest were spent during the term of her predecessor, former vice president Jejomar Binay.

Based on an accomplishment report, state auditors said the OVP’s medical and burial assistance benefited at least 10,892 claimants. 

“Had the balance of P89,269,117.24 been utilized for medical assistance, using the maximum amount of P25,000 per request, the OVP could have assisted or sent at least 3,500 cancer patients to chemotherapy sessions or in case of the minimum P3,000 burial services, it could have supported additional 29,000 burials,” the audit team said.

The OVP said it failed to spend all its financial assistance funds due to lack of personnel as there were only four to seven employees to interview those seeking help.

Further, the interviews were only conducted in the morning since the staff still need to attend to their other work assignments in the afternoon, agency officials explained.

The OVP said geographical and demographical limitations also affect the agency since it only receives applications directly forwarded to its office, while those requiring assistance in the provinces or outside Metro Manila would need to visit the OVP office.

Politics was also blamed because the transition period supposedly affected operations, considering that “the new administration is still in the process of evaluating how to best serve the needs of its constituency in terms of subsidies and financial assistance.”