CoA flags health allowances, OVP confidential funds

PHILIPPINE state auditors have flagged the National Nutrition Council, which is under the Department of Health (DoH), for spending P22.58 million in travel allowances for village health volunteers.

The spending, which happened on Jan. 1 to Oct. 31 last year, violated Section 6 of Presidential Decree (PD) 1569, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said in its 2022 audit report posted on its website on June 30.

Under the law, village nutrition scholars will receive a training stipend, kit and travel allowance of at least P120 a year, as well as other allowances that the municipality may grant, which can only be up to P150 a month.

The council did not immediately reply to an e-mail seeking comment.

During the audit process, the council said that it had been giving travel allowances of as much as P1,200 yearly to each beneficiary. “They were not able to provide a legal basis for the aforementioned increase,” CoA said.

“The head and staff of the office of the Nutrition Policy and Planning Division explained that the amount of P120 a year is not reasonable now, since said PD was created many years ago,” it added.

The audit team said the council should ask Congress to amend the law. CoA also urged the council to update its database of village nutrition scholars.

A village nutrition scholar is a volunteer worker assigned in each village to deliver nutrition services including community health, environmental sanitation and family planning, among other things.

The council was created in 1974 to address the country’s hunger and malnutrition problem in line with Millennium Development Goals.

Meanwhile, a separate CoA audit showed that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent confidential funds worth P125 million in 2022.

CoA cited an increase in maintenance and other operating expenses after the release of additional funding for medical assistance worth P96.42 million and confidential expenses worth P125 million under Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

Her predecessor Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo had zero budget for confidential funds, it added.

State auditors also said the office violated the Government Procurement Reform Act when it built satellite offices in July last year. 

CoA said the immediate establishment of the satellite offices without enough equipment to operate led to the purchases of plant, property and equipment and semi-expendable property worth P668,197, which did not fully comply with the law.

State auditors further noted that based on the receipts, the purchases were reported to the Property Unit three months after, raising accountability concerns.

Though a quotation was attached, ensuring that the lowest price was obtained, the office’s failure to follow procurement guidelines “defeats the purpose of the law, which is to standardize and to improve transparency in the procurement process.”

The Office of the Vice President opened satellite offices in Cebu, Tacloban, Dagupan, Davao, Zamboanga and Tandag in Surigao Del Sur a year ago.

During the audit process, the office said time constraints under the law had pushed it to make transactions through reimbursement.

It also said its Property Unit did not have the needed office equipment at the time of the opening. It assured CoA it would follow the procurements law.

The office last year said the satellite offices would improve public access to better services. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz