OCD spent only P10k of P36M in donations for Marawi victims —COA

The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for spending in 2018 only P10,000 out of the P36.92 million donation for victims of the five-month long siege of Marawi City in 2017.

State auditors said this amount was used to assist the family of one dead victim.

"Clearly, the donations were not utilized to provide for the much needed support of the Marawi siege victims," the COA said in its 2018 audit report.

"The poor utilization of the donated funds defeated the purpose of donation and that the good intention of the donors for human consideration was not fully served," it added.

GMA News Online sought comment from OCD but has yet to receive any as of posting time.

The donation of the Embassy of India made up more than half of the Marawi donations, amounting to P25.57 million, followed by the Embassy of Thailand at P5 million.

Under the National Disaster Coordinating Council Memorandum Order No. 13, the OCD may grant disaster victims a P10,000 financial assistance if a family member died and P5,000 for the injured.

The COA, however, said victims may find it to difficult to avail of these benefits due to the number of documents they need to produce at their respective regional disaster coordinating councils.

For instance, the family of a deceased victim must produce a death certificate, barangay certification, proof of filial relationship, and an endorsement from the local disaster council in order to claim the P10,000.

The audit agency also noted the victims only have one year from the time of the calamity to claim the benefit.

"The production alone of the above documents could be very burdensome for some victims, which could be one of the causes of low utilization of the donated funds," the COA said. —NB, GMA News