SHOCKING! SAAN NAPUNTA?: P6.3-B IN FUNDS FOR 4PS UNLIQUIDATED, SAYS COA

As much as P6.39 billion in funds for the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program has not been liquidated as of 2015, including payouts from 2008 to 2014, according to the Commission on Audit (COA). 

Some P1.579 billion in funds meant for CCT beneficiaries have remained idle in state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines and its conduits over five years of the Aquino administration, state auditors said. 

Almost 400,000 accounts of the beneficiaries did not reflect any withdrawals since the accounts were opened, amounting to P139 million in total, the COA said in a consolidated audit report released this week. 
These were some of COA’s observations in a general audit of government projects funded by official development assistance (ODA) for 2015. 

Also known as 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program), the CCT provides cash grants to poor families to improve their health and nutrition, and help in the schooling of children up to 18 years old. 

The program is being carried out by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and is partly funded by foreign loans. 

In its report, COA cited “recurring deficiencies in the implementation of 4Ps resulting in delayed delivery of assistance to rightful beneficiaries or unnecessary holding of idle funds” by Landbank and its conduits. 

Payments to qualified beneficiaries suffered delays by 12 to 15 months due to delayed processing and release of checks or absence of partner conduits, among others, it said.

For 2015, only 22.28 percent of the budgeted amount of P562.40 million was released to the beneficiaries, the agency said. From 2010 to 2015, some P1.579 billion in the bank accounts of CCT beneficiaries has not been touched, it said. 

Under the memorandum agreement between Landbank and the DSWD, liquidation documents should be submitted within five working days from the last date of scheduled payout, the COA noted. 

Likewise, the amount refunded by Landbank of P1.451 billion was not returned to the Bureau of Treasury, it said. 

The COA said the information system on the CCT remained inaccurate.

Source: Pinoyspeak

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