COA flags OVP for late liquidation of livelihood aid funds

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for delayed liquidation of financial grants it provided in 2024 to beneficiaries of its livelihood assistance program, Mag Negosyo Ta ‘Day (MTD).

COA said 31 individuals and 11 non-government organizations (NGOs)/ civil society organizations (CSOs) received grants amounting to P15,000 each and P150,000 each, or a total of P465,000 and P1,650,000, respectively.

These grants were not liquidated within the required period, with delays ranging from 2 to 154 days, according to the COA annual audit report.

Under the MTD program, the OVP requires beneficiaries to use the seed capital within 60 days based on their approved project proposals and to submit a fund utilization report with supporting receipts.

“While it is worthy to mention that the OVP has implemented a control in tracking the individual beneficiaries’ utilization and liquidation of the financial assistance, there were no written actions to be taken or penalty to be imposed in case of non-submission of the prescribed reports and non-liquidation of financial assistance by the beneficiaries,” COA said.

In response to audit findings, the OVP earlier told auditors that its Special Projects Division has revised the "acknowledgement of obligation" for MTD individual application form, which now states that recipients fully understand their responsibilities and the possible penalties.

“Management commented that the OVP is currently revising the MTD Manual of Operations to consider provisions addressing the liquidation requirements and sanctions and penalties to be imposed in case of non-compliance and late submissions by the beneficiaries,” COA said

“This aims to ensure the proper utilization of funds among all beneficiaries,” it added.

As of May 7, 2025, COA reported that 14 of the 31 grants had been fully liquidated, 11 were returned for compliance, and six remained unliquidated.

GMA News Online has reached out to the OVP for further comment.