COA certificate belies allegations vs Quezon City's P479-million COVID-19 relief

MANILA, Philippines — Rep. Michael “Mike” Defensor (AnaKalusugan party-list) wrongly claimed that a “new” Commission on Audit (COA) report “questioned the validity” of P479-million worth of COVID-19 relief goods procured in 2020.

In a January 23 press release, Defensor, who has been throwing the same allegations since September 2021, said:

“In a new report published on the COA website, state auditors said the Quezon City government’s purchases violated the Procurement Law and its implementing regulations, as well as accounting rules.”

Source: Mike Defensor Official Facebook Page, Media Release (Archive), Jan. 23, 2022

The COA annual audit report, which Defensor cited, was published on the agency's database on July 19, 2021, or eight months ago.

The report did not say it found violations of procurement laws in the transactions. In fact, lawyer Resurreccion Quieta, COA’s state auditor for Quezon City, gave the local government unit (LGU) an “unmodified opinion” for 2020, the highest rating the city has received at least in the past 10 years.

COA’s financial audit manual notes unmodified opinions are given if the reviewed financial statements are “free from material misstatements” and are compliant with accounting standards.

Defensor is a mayoral candidate in Quezon City and running against incumbent Mayor Joy Belmonte.

How the city responded

In the observation and recommendations of its 2020 audit report, the agency recommended that the Quezon City LGU submit all necessary documents to confirm the validity and regularity of the transaction under question.

Pia Morato, Mayor Belmonte's spokesperson, has refuted Defensor’s claim that anomalies riddle the LGU’s financial statements.

“Within a matter of weeks, the QC LGU submitted all supporting documents pertaining [to] the P479 million. No violations were cited and the section was written as a request rather than a reprimand,” explained Morato in a statement posted on her Facebook account on January 25.

COA confirmation

The agency recently issued a certificate confirmed that Quezon City has not been flagged for irregularities in submitting complete documentation for the P479-million procurement of relief packs in 2020. 

Denying that it has been investigating the LGU, the COA also acknowledged that the documents fully comply with audit standards.

"With this COA certification, I hope we can finally put these ridiculous accusations to rest," Morato said in a statement.

"As mentioned previously, this was a sad attempt to turn very old news into fake news, and unfortunately, even the COA had to be involved in this nonsense," she added.

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This article was produced with Tsek.ph, a collaborative fact-checking project for the 2022 Philippines' elections. Philstar.com is a founding partner of the pioneering academe- and media-led initiative to counter disinformation and provide the public with verified information.