DOF pushed return of idle P33B in PITC to national treasury —Drilon

The Department of Finance has acknowledged the need for the Philippine International Trading Center to return to the national treasury some P33 billion of government funds that were allegedly "parked" in its coffers, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Thursday.

Drilon said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III personally called and informed him that the DOF already sent a letter to the Department of Budget and Management, recommending this move.

"Following our discussion, we would like to request for the endorsement to the President by the Department of Budget and Management for the return to the Bureau of the Treasury of the various fund transfers to PITC by certain government agencies, pursuant to DBM’s guidelines on the matter," Dominguez' letter to Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado states.

"This is in line with our continuous efforts to identify sources of fiscal space and to accommodate the country’s various medical and social needs as a result of the pandemic, compounded by the successive calamities that recently hit the country," it added.

The letter also indicated that a total of P32.6 billion is still with the state trading firm PITC as of October 31, 2020. The amount includes the following transfers from various government agencies:

• Philippine Army - P7.04 billion
• Bureau of Fire Protection -  P3.25 billion
• Department of Information and Communication Technology - P3.23 billion
• Technical Education and Skills Development Authority - P3.04 billion
• Bureau of Customs - P2.44 billion
• Department of Health - P2.11 billion
• Philippine Navy - P1.74 billion
• University of the Philippines Systems - P1.47 billion
• Research Institute of Tropical Medicine - P1.16 billion
• Philippine General Hospital - P991.24 million

Drilon welcomed the position and swift action of the DOF regarding the issue as he stressed that the return of the said funds to the national treasury would be significant in terms of financing the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines for Filipinos.

"We need P73.2 billion to fund the procurement of vaccines. We need P30 billion annually to address our 6.5 million housing backlogs. We need to feed 5.5 million hungry Filipino families and support the 4.6 million unemployed Filipinos," the minority leader said.

"With the return of this P33.3 billion, we now have half of the P73.2 billion needed for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines," he added.

Earlier, Drilon said that some government agencies may be engaging in the practice of "parking funds" at the PITC to make it appear that their budget had already been “obligated.”

“If these funds have been there, sitting idly for more than a decade, in the PITC accounts, it means the government agencies have no immediate and paramount need for these projects. It is only right and just that it be returned to the national coffers immediately,” he said.

For its part, the PITC denied claims that it serves as a “parking lot” for unused funds of various government agencies.

"The PITC has records to show that it has reverted back to the National Treasury all unutilized funds of client-agencies covering the periods 2019 and prior years and fully liquidated funds utilized for the procurement of goods and services for those years," PITC president and CEO Dave Almarinez said.

He also welcomed the senators' calls for an investigation on PITC's operations and mandate.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, meanwhile, cited the report of the PITC on projects worth millions of pesos that were fully delivered and completely liquidated.

"Siguro po iyong idle amount nagkataon lang na talagang maraming pondo pa dahil hindi pa nila naaangkat," Roque said at a news conference in Quezon.

"Pero according to PITC po, hindi na po iyan iyong amount na nakadeposito sa kanila at gaya ng sinabi ko kanina po, itong mga halagang ito, hindi basta-basta pupuwedeng makuha dahil ito po’y pondo ng iba’t ibang ahensiya held in trust by PITC," he added.

Roque did not give a categorical statement when asked to comment on calls for Duterte to order the return of unused funds to the national treasury. — LBG/RSJ, GMA News