COA report: Mar Roxas poured P5M into questionable NGO

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas may find himself dragged into the pork barrel controversy he is tasked to monitor.

According to the Commission on Audit report on the Priority Development Assistance Fund covering the period 2007 to 2009, then-senator Roxas allocated P5 million of his pork funds to a questionable non-government organization, the Kaloocan Assistance Council Inc. (KACI).

Among the 82 NGOs that received pork barrel funds within the three-year period, KACI received the 11th biggest amount: P133.6 million for 21 projects, with the Department of Social Welfare and Development as implementing agency.

The NGO was bared by COA as having unliquidated balances of PDAF amounting to P58.8 million from the following lawmakers: senator and former senate president Juan Ponce Enrile (P7 million), Navotas-Malabon Rep. Alvin Sandoval (P14 million), Caloocan City 1st district Rep. Oscar Malapitan (P15.2 million), Caloocan City 2nd district Rep. Mary Mitzi Cajayon (P17 million), and Quezon City Rep. Vincent Crisologo (P5.6 million).

Roxas, who was not one of those with unliquidated funds, said the COA report did not tag him specifically in the controversy.

"Walang sinabi doon sa COA report na may anomalya o kung ano man naganap na konektado dyan," he said.

Roxas went on to say that the COA report supposedly called KACI a legitimate organization.

"Ayon sa COA report, ito ay isang lehitimong, rehistradong organisasyon na kinikilala ng DSWD," Roxas said.

The COA report said the NGO—registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and located at PNR Compound, Torres Magallanes Street, Caloocan City—"did not... confirm its transactions and did not submit additional documents requested by the Team."

The Interior Secretary said he is willing to be investigated.

Roxas may not have been tagged with unliquidated balance, but his pork allotment was revealed to have been partly used for the NGO's operations or as financial/educational assistance to its employees—at least P58,000 for administrative expenses and P100,000 for the NGO's employees, based on Roxas' Special Allotment Release Order No. 07-05504.

Roxas could not be reached for comment on this. The former senator and a presidentiable in the 2016 elections also did not reply to the COA team's request for confirmation on the documents' signatures, the report said.

The other lawmakers with their pork spent on the KACI's operations and employees instead of for beneficiaries are:

Juan Ponce Enrile - P257,000 for NGO employees
Manuel Roxas - P58,000 for NGO operations, P100,000 for NGO employees
Vincent Crisologo - P494,000 for NGO operations, P1.4 million for NGO employees
Oscar Malapitan - P508,000 for NGO operations, P500,000 for NGO employees
Luis Asistio - P114,000 for NGO operations, P1.017 million for NGO employees
Mary Mitzi Cajayon - P14,000 for NGO operations, P426,000 for NGO employees

The COA also said the NGO had questionable beneficiaries.

Of the 15,461 recipients supposedly benefiting from the NGO's programs, at least 179 beneficiaries denied receiving assistance worth P1.22 million.

Also, at least 279 beneficiaries who reportedly received P1.159 million in assistance could not be located at their given addresses.

Of a selected 7,231 recipients, only 2,045 are registered voters within their respective district.

At least 47 Caloocan barangay chairpersons, meanwhile, said they are not aware of the NGO's programs. They added that beneficiaries who received P401,600 in assistance were not their residents.

Both members of the Liberal Party, Aquino assigned Roxas to oversee the detention of fugitive Janet Lim Napoles, who surrendered to the president in connection with the serious illegal detention charges against her.

Napoles is also suspected as the mastermind behind a pork barrel scam that funneled state funds to questionable NGOs for ghost projects.

The funds allegedly went to the pockets of lawmakers and Napoles. — BM, GMA News