Palace working on guidelines for use of Lopez donation

The Office of the President (OP) is studying the report of the Commission on Audit (COA) that around P1.41 billion worth of donations from a Lopez-owned company had not been used for economic development projects as of last year.

According to the COA’s 2019 audit report, donations amounting to P1,412,943,850.69 from Lopez-owned Benpres Corp. (now Lopez Holdings Corp.) have yet to be utilized by the government for agrarian reform, assistance to victims and areas affected by natural calamities, and the rehabilitation of depressed areas.

The amount comes from the sale of the shares of stock of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco)—formerly under Lopez control—owned by the OP as a result of the compromise agreement between the Meralco Foundation Inc. and the Presidential Commission on Good Government, as well as the shares donated by Benpres in August 1990.

State auditors said the lack of pertinent guidelines might have been the reason why the OP management did not touch the donated amount.

“As per the Office of the Executive Secretary, the Office of the President is already working on the guidelines and studying how to best address the findings of the Commission on Audit, which include how donations will be effectively and efficiently utilized,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday.

Government auditors also reported that some foreign travel requests failed to comply with the requirements under Memorandum Circular 35 issued by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea in 2017.

Requests for authority for foreign travel were processed by the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for General Administration (ODESGA) even though these were submitted less than the 10-day period requirement prior to the scheduled date of departure, and/or less than two working days for extremely justifiable cases.

The COA recommended to the OP management to require ODESGA to “strictly adhere” to the required number of days to submit requests for travel authority and late submission shall not be entertained, “unless otherwise fully justified.”

They also urged the OP to increase funding for its gender and development plans and programs.—AOL, GMA News