DOLE flagged over P10.8 billion COVID-19 aid

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) over several deficiencies in the implementation of the P10.89-billion COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), which aimed to provide P5,000 one-time financial assistance to affected workers in private establishments.

In a performance audit report on CAMP’s implementation uploaded on its website last May 23, the COA said that while the program was able to provide financial assistance to a total of 2.17 million beneficiaries, “a number of crucial issues and improvement opportunities were noted” by the audit team.

The CAMP was launched by the government in 2020 to assist workers in the private sector reeling from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fund allocation for the program was provided under Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1) amounting P3.31 billion and RA 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” (Bayanihan 2) amounting P7.58 billion.

The implementation of the program under Bayanihan 2 was divided into three components – the CAMP regular with funding of P4.18 billion, CAMP for education sector (P300 million) and for tourism sector (P3.10 billion).

The COA said that while DOLE was able to slightly exceed its target number of beneficiaries and achieved a 99.87 percent fund utilization rate or P10.87 billion out of P10.89 billion allocated funds, there were a number of adverse findings noted during the audit, among them the release of assistance to ineligible beneficiaries, approval of multiple grants to same beneficiaries and unequal opportunity for workers to apply for the program.

The COA said a total of P31.07 million was paid to 6,214 ineligible beneficiaries while P39.19 million was released to 7,838 “probable ineligible beneficiaries.”

Furthermore, the audit body said 13 DOLE regional offices (ROs) approved multiple applications by same beneficiaries, resulting in double or multiple grants to 756 individuals amounting P3.80 million under Bayanihan 2 while three more DOLE ROs paid an excess of P2.40 million to 434 beneficiaries.

On the other hand, the COA said six DOLE ROs provided less than the required P5,000 subsidy per worker.

The COA said that as of October 2021, there was still a total of P135.47 million unclaimed financial assistance for 27,094 beneficiaries qualified for the program.

Lastly, the COA said that “gaps in the prioritization of beneficiaries” resulted in unequal opportunity for affected workers across the country to apply for the program.

“Approximately 449,385 or 18 percent of the total affected workers were still not accommodated under CAMP-Bayanihan 2. However, 86,462 beneficiaries who have already availed from CAMP-Bayanihan 1 were still able to claim from CAMP-Bayanihan 2,” the audit report read.

The COA attributed the deficiencies to “unclear roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in the implementation,” particularly of CAMP-Bayanihan 2-Tourism Sector, while the involvement of partner agencies in the implementation of CAMP-Bayanihan 2-Education Sector was also not explicitly stated.