COA orders DSWD to pay P277M 4Ps conduits unpaid service fees

The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to pay the unpaid service fees of several conduits for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) worth more than P277 million.

In a recent decision, the COA granted the petition for money claim of the Land Bank of the Philippines for the payment of service fees of Globe G-Cash, M Lhuillier, Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost), rural banks and other accredited 4Ps conduits in 2013 and the previous years totaling to P277,986.928.29.

Philpost has the biggest amount of money claim worth P129.85 million, followed by G-Cash with P81.35 million, M Lhuillier with P35.15 million, Cash card with P20.79 million, rural banks and countryside financial institutions with P8.90 million and over-the-counter conduits with P1.95 million.

In December 2015 decision, the COA remanded the petition to the supervising auditors from the DSWD and Land Bank to further validate the money claim.

This, after the COA observed that the disbursement vouchers do not match with the statements of account submitted.

The service fee amounts being charged also vary with those stated in the memorandum of agreement and implementing rules and regulations of the conduits, the COA said.

At the same time, the individual contracts or agreements between the Land Bank and the 4Ps conduits were not submitted, the COA added.

Following the COA decision, the officer-in-charge supervising auditor of the DSWD revalidated the money claim, saying that the actual billing is P673.95 million.

However, the DSWD only prepared disbursement vouchers for the amount of P277,933,167.09.

Adjusted due to typographical and computation errors, the total Land Bank claim totaled to P277,986,928.29.

The DSWD supervising auditor also said the service conformed with the amounts stated in the MOAs or implementing rules and regulations of the 4Ps

The service fees for rural banks, for example, range from P25 to P50, while those for M Lhuillier was at P24, Philpost was from P24 to P50, G-Cash was from P42 to P75, over-the-counter conduits was at P24, and cash card at P20.

"All told, and considering further that the claim was supported with complete documentation... this Commission grants [Land Bank's] petition," the COA said.

The 4Ps, also called the Conditional Cash Transfer program, is the Aquino administration's flagship poverty-alleviation program.

The program gives families cash for keeping their children in school and bringing them to local health centers for check-ups. —NB, GMA News