Over P6B in cash doleouts for poor still unaccounted for, COA says

A total of P6.391-billion worth of funds allocated for the implementation of the government’s Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) remains unliquidated as of the end of 2015, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in its latest report.

Based on COA’s 2015 Consolidated Audit Report, published on its website on Wednesday, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), as of December 31, 2015, has yet to liquidated P6.931 billion fund it agreed to pay out in cash to the beneficiaries of the 4Ps under an existing memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“Submission of liquidation documents by Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) was delayed, thus, status of P6.391 billion unliquidated balance as of CY 2015 cannot be assessed,” the COA report read.

The COA said that P3.322 billion of the unliquidated balances pertained to transactions concerning 4Ps’ implementation dating back from 2008 to 2014.

The COA pointed out that under the MOA, Land Bank would help DSWD in the payout of cash assistance to 4Ps’ beneficiaries and liquidate the transactions “within five working days from the last date of scheduled payout”.

The 4Ps, also referred as the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, is the flagship poverty-alleviation project of the administration of President Benigno Aquino III.

It had a budget of P62.3 billion in 2015.

Aside from the unliquidated transactions, the COA report also cited “recurrent deficiencies” in the program’s implementation.

The COA said that for 2010 to 2015, the Land Bank failed to remit to the DSWD a total of P1.579 billion which was not used after some beneficiaries were delisted for being non-compliant the program requirements.

The COA said that as of December 31, 2015, a total of P1.252 billion cash grants also did not reach some 2.990 million intended beneficiaries.

The COA also described the DSWD’s validation system as “inaccurate” as some compliant beneficiaries were supposedly excluded or suspended from the payroll while payments were made to “327 households with duplicate names under different household IDs”.

The COA also noted that there were 386,435 accounts of beneficiaries containing a cumulative balance of P139.008 million. The COA said these accounts show no withdrawal since they were opened which indicates that “there was no immediate need for assistance” by these beneficiaries even if they were enrolled in the program.

Meanwhile, despite the unliquidated funds and several loopholes in the 4Ps’ implementation, the COA acknowledged that the program has helped thousands of poor families in sending their children to school.

“On a positive note, the Program has conducted the First Graduation Event of Pantawid Pamilya High School Beneficiaries on April 9 and 23, 2015…highlighting the 333,673 beneficiaries who graduated with the help of the program,” the COA report read.

“Out of the total number of graduates, 13,469 graduated with honors…1,024 are salutatorian, and 1,312 are valedictorian,” the report added.

GMA News Online is trying to reach officials from Land Bank and DSWD for comment as of posting time. —NB, GMA News