COA flags PIA-13 over mobile expenses going P240K over limit

Mobile phone expenses of the state-run Philippine Information Agency's (PIA) Region 13 office reached over P500,000, exceeding the limits set by PIA and Commission on Audit (COA) by 46.8% or P241,056, COA said.

In its annual audit report on the PIA, state auditors said that 10 out of the Caraga office's 15 mobile postpaid plans exceeded the prescribed monthly plans.

The four mobile postpaid plans issued by the PIA-13 to its Regional Director and Assistant Regional Director cost P4,999 each, exceeding the P3,358 limit.

Information Center Managers, on the other hand, were issued six mobile postpaid plans worth P2,499 to P4,999, exceeding the P1,999 threshold.

In addition to the excessive monthly plan, COA said, the following disbursements contributed to the excessive expenditures:

• cash-out or installment payment for mobile phones ranging from P200.00 to P950.00 per month;
• provision of new mobile phone for a phone that is still to expire;
• more than one mobile phone issued to some employees; and
• contract of service personnel being issued mobile phones

“As a result of the foregoing, the postpaid accounts exceeded the authorized mobile expenses by P241,056.74,” COA said.

“Excessive and unnecessary expenditures are disallowed in audit based on COA Circular 2012-003, which describes excessive as unreasonable expense or expenses incurred at an immoderate quantity or exorbitant price, including expenses in excess of reasonable limits,” COA added.

Netflix on gov't account

Of the P241,056.74 excess, unnecessary charges such as pre-termination fee, administrative fee, share-a-load, Netflix and roaming charges accounted for P18,295.10.

Spending for such items, COA said, is in violation of the COA Circular 2012-003 on the guidelines for prevention and disallowance of Irregular, Unnecessary, Excessive, Extravagant and Unconscionable expenditures (IUEEU).

COA noted that roaming charges, which amounted to P10,241.09 out of the P18,295.10, are also not allowed under the PIA guidelines, which provide that "the allowable monthly consumption rates do not include costs for international calling.”

PIA response

In response to COA’s findings, PIA said that they opted to avail of monthly plans and adopt the advanced technology "text blast" as a platform to provide timely, accurate and relevant information to its clients despite PIA guidelines because of the agency’s limited manpower and unique set-up.

PIA-13 also protested that the audit team anchored the finding on excessive charges by primarily using the provisions of PIA Office Order No. 021 without considering the impediments and operational constraint on PIA regional and provincial offices.

“Telecommunications expenses is one of PIA Caraga's most prominent expenditures since information dissemination is one of PIA' s main mandates; thus, was given priority. Through the use of its mobile platforms, PIA Caraga has exceeded their targets and was named the 'Best Regional Office' in consecutive years, demonstrating excellence in regional operations,” PIA Region 13 said.

Likewise, PIA Region 13 justified the issuance of two mobile units to the Assistant Regional Director by saying that one was previously issued to the former PIA Director General, and its unexpired contract was utilized to maximize usage.

The contract, PIA said, was terminated effective January 2020 upon completion of the pre-determined two-year lock-in period.

PIA also said that maintaining the unexpired plan was necessary for having a back-up communication resource.

As for the contract of service personnel being issued mobile phones and corresponding mobile plans, PIA Region 13 said these contractual workers were tasked for massive information dissemination.

PIA also maintained that incurring roaming charges was beyond its control since the office was not aware that the recipients were out of the country at that time.

“All expenditures are aligned with the work and financial plan of PIA Caraga,” PIA said.

PIA also said that the committee in charge of PIA's telecommunications concerns is already revisiting PIA Office Order No. 021 for possible amendments.

COA, however, argued against such validation by PIA by citing that state auditors' verification proved otherwise, and that any procedure introduced to the operation should be done in a way following the prescribed policies and guidelines issued to monitor expenditures and for efficient use of government resources.

“While unnecessary is described as denoting non-responsiveness to the exigencies of the service, those are not essential or that which can be dispensed with without loss or damage to property,” COA said.

“The Audit Team's verification debunked the claim of the RO that other mobile phones were for back-up communication resource and revealed that there were too many mobile phones issued to other employees and contract of service personnel for agency operations. In the absence of any amendments , PIA Office Order No.021 remain in full force, which the Regional Office must abide,” COA added.

State auditors then urged PIA to adhere to its policy ion the use of mobile phones and submit examples of situational cases for PIA’s consideration as exemptions to the policy.

In addition, COA called on PIA to re-assess the type and model of mobile phones for issuance to eligible employees, taking into consideration economy and efficiency in the use of government resources, without compromising the agency mandate. — BM, GMA News