CoA’s pork bombshell covers only GMA term REPORT SAYS 74 SOLONS GOT MORE PDAF THAN ALLOWED With allegations of worsening corruption against the Aquino administration mounting, the Commission on Audit (CoA) yesterday released its findings on its audit on the expenditures for the lawmakers Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but only covering the period 2007 to 2009 which are years under former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo which state auditors painted as having been marked by several irregularities, including 74 legislators who Commission on Audit (CoA) Chairman Grace Pulido Tan said received far greater pork than they are entitled to. Going through the CoA report, the 74 personalities the CoA did not name appear to be mostly the same individuals who are not allies of President Aquino and are being linked to the P10-billion pork barrel scam. In a hastily called press briefing, Pulido-Tan made public the 462-page Special Audit Report 2012-03 of the pork barrel expenditures of members of Congress, wherein she claimed that the P113.6 billion infrastructure and pork barrel spent in 2007 to 2009 featured misuse and irregularities. “It came out in the audit that 74 (members of Congress) received far more than the P200 million per term of a Senator or P70 million for a House member share of each. There are those who received hundreds of millions in excess, there is even one who got P3 billion,” Pulido Tan told reporters. Describing the results of the report as “horrifying,” Pulido-Tan said the magnitude of fund anomalies has shown that the PDAF system has bred a “culture of impunity”, as many of those involved may have believed that they would get away with it. Pulido-Tan said she will refer the report to the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice for their respective action. Notices of disallowances rejecting the expenditures for anomalous purchases, projects and allocations will be released within a year’s time. Asked why the special audit covered only congressional expenditures during the Arroyo administration, Pulido Tan explained that it was already being conducted in 2010 when she was appointed to the CoA post. She said audit examinations during the Aquino term will be included in the annual audit report of various agencies that spent congressional allocations. However, the CoA chief could not explain why their report, supposedly covering only the period 2007 – 2009, showed current Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad’s wife, Henedina, receiving P20 million in pork when she was only elected in 2010. The CoA report also bared that Camarines Sur Rrep. Rolando Andaya, Jr. receiving P20 million in PDAF for the said period when he was only elected to Congress also in 2010. Both Abad and Andaya are allies of the present administration. CoA conducted an special audit of the 2007-2009 funds that have been allocated to congressmen and senators as PDAF, totalling P8.37 billion and various infrastructure including local projects (VILP), P32.664 billion, which represented 58 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of the total funds allocated by government for the said expenditures. The remainder of the PDAF and VILP expenditures for the three year period were not examined due to problems in retrieving the records, security and other issues that confronted the 17-man special audit team led by Director Gloria Silverio. Placed under audit were the funds coursed through the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC); , National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC), National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) and Zamboanga del Norte Agriculture College Rubber Estate Corporation (ZREC). Also examined were congressional fund expenditures for five provincial governments, eight city government and 109 barangay. The provinces are Tarlac, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental. Mandaluyong City, Quezon City and Manila were among the local governments examined. Of the total amount of public funds placed under special audit, at least P2.157 billion were traced to have been funneled to ten non-government organizations (NGOs) linked to fugitive Janet Lim Napoles. Pulido-Tan said that corruption has been deeply embedded into the PDAF funds that even a non-legislator was able to access P20 million, referring to a certain Rep. Luis Abalos who was able to pinpoint where the amount should be spent. The CoA chief admitted that some lawmakers have been lucky than their counterparts that their allocation were grossly over the P70 million and P200 million annual share that congressmen and senators, respectively, received during the years under audit. The chief audit examiner refused to reveal the names of solons who received more funds during the last three years of the Arroyo administration but admitted that the recipient of the P3 billion was a “kongresista” or congressman. The audit report showed that former Rep. Manuel Zamora of Compostela Valley received P2.998 billion in excess of his P210 million share during the three year period on audit. Also getting huge excesses were Reps. Neptali Gonzales II (Mandaluyong City), P35 million; Junie Cua, P42 million; Edcel Lagman (Albay), P153 million; Philip Pichay (Surigao del NOrte), P121 million; Niel Tupaz (Iloilo), P36 million; Isidro Ungab (Davao City), P29 million; Alvin Sandoval (Navotas), P48.4 million and Eduardo Nonato Joson (Nueva Ecija), P170 million. Then Speaker Prospero Nograles received an excess of P400 million while former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile got P347million. Senators who also received more than the usual were incumbent Senators Jinggoy Estrada, P401 million; Ramon Revilla Jr., P265 million; and Miriam Defensor Santiago, P26.15 million. Former Senators Edgardo Angara and Lito Lapid got additional pork in the amount of P384 million and P13.6 million, respectively. CoA said over P4 billion in funds have also been released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for projects outside the legislative district of sponsoring congressmen. Cited as an example was Zamora who took P3 billion to fund infrastructure projects in various parts of the country. Nograles, who represented Davao City, was able to fund nearly P1 billion worth of infrastructure projects in Mandaluyong City, Taguig, Bataan, Sorsogon, Masbate, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley and Davao del Sur. Pulido Tan said the audit report noted that the DBM has failed to keep proper records and efficiently monitor releases for the lawmakers. On the implementation of livelihood projects implemented, state auditors revealed that agencies “simply transferred funds to non-government organizations, including those allegedly managed by Napoles, so long as they have been identified by legislators. “The projects were found to be grossly deficient in many ways, casting doubt on whether they were carried at all, much more in the magnitude claimed by the NGOs, many of which were found to be of dubious existence,” the report said. NGO’s identified by solons reportedly gave addresses that are non-existent or in areas of informal settlers that turned out to be residences of their officials. “About 123 million were used by some NGOs for payment of salaries and other administrative expenses,” revealed CoA. The report also disclosed that some infrastructure projects were “deficient or overpriced or were subject to split contracts” in order to avoid public bidding. “Fifty four projects costing P161.5 million were constructed on private lots without any document showing the turnover of such properties,” it said. For financial assistance extended to LGUs, state auditors revealed that a total P1.29 billion in disbursements involved procurements that violated the Government Procurement Act or Republic Act 9184. In its recommendation, CoA said it has asked the DBM to issue “specific and stringent guidelines on the utilization of PDAF and the participation of NGos. “The blacklisting of erring NGOs and the immediate investigation of all persons involved and the filing of administrative and criminal charges were also recommended,” she said. The team lead by Silverio is composed of audit examiners Catherine Petri, Kristina Cleo Bigornia, Jennifer Sanorjo, Cristina Mercado, Ma. Christina Irene Franco, Joselita Corteza, George Tamayo Jr. Dondon Marcos, Joselito Sucion, Rosemarie Magtaan, Lydia Duzon, Onofre Mores, Teresa Santiago, Grace de Castro, Joan Agnes Alfafaras, Angelita Aquino, Cheryl Apalisoc and Leona Andriano. For each Senator, the annual allocation is P100 million for soft projects and P100 Million for hard projects, or a total of PHP 200 Million. For each Congressman and Party List Representative, the annual allocation is P30 million for soft projects and P40 million for hard projects, or a total of P70 million. Pulido-Tan said that the Special Audit covered PDAF and VILP released in 2007 to 2009 to three (3) national government agencies, four (4) government corporations, five provincial governments, and eight (8) city governments, including 109 of their barangays. “These are the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD), Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC), National Livelihood Development Corporation (NLDC), National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR), Zamboanga del Norte “Agricultural College Rubber Estate Corporation (ZREC), Mandaluyong City, Manila City including 12 barangays, Quezon City including 94 barangays, Taguig City including 3 barangays, Las Pinas City, Tabaco City, Iriga City, Naga City, Panabo City, and the Provincial Governments of Tarlac, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental,” Pulido-Tan said. Pulido-Tan said the national government agencies were selected for audit based on the magnitude of releases to them per the National Expenditure Program (NEP). “DA, DPWH, DSWD were the top three (3) recipient national agencies. NLDC and TLRC were the top two (2) recipient corporate agencies, while NABCOR and ZREC were the top two (2) recipients of the funds released to DA. “Mandaluyong, Manila, Quezon City, Taguig and Las Pinas are the top five recipient local government units in the NCR. “The other cities and the provincial governments included in the audit are located in the top three (3) Regional Offices - Regions III, V and XI – of the DA, DPWH and DSWD. Pulido-Tan said the Special Audit was conducted by the Special Audits Office of the Commission starting in June 2010, with field work and validation taking almost two years, given the scope and number of agencies, legislators, transactions, projects, non-government organizations, suppliers and documents involved. Pulido-Tan said that the Special Audit focused on four major parts: allocation of Fund and Monitoring by DBM of Releases; Implementation of Livelihood and other Soft Projects; Implementation of Infrastructure Projects; and Financial Assistance and Other Charges by LGUs. For the years 2007-2009, Pulido-Tan said the Commission validated that about P101.6 billion was released by the DBM in VILP nationwide. Then P12 billion in PDAF to agencies covered in the audit, and P2.36 billion from allocation for Financial Assistance to LGUs and Budgetary Support to GOCCs, also for projects identified by legislators. Pulido-Tan said the VILP releases included P20 million from the allocation of a “certain Luis Abalos” who was not a member of the 13th or 14th Congress. “Out of the total releases aforesaid, P8.374 billion in PDAF and P32.664 billion in VILP were covered in the Audit, representing 58 percent and 32 percent, respectively, of the total PDAF and VILP accounted for. “A total of P6.156 billion was transferred by the Agencies to eighty two (82) non- government organizations (NGOs),” the CoA chairman said. Pulido-Tan said that this came from the PDAFs of 12 Senators and around 180 Representatives. “10 of the non-government organizations (NGOs), which received a total of P2.157 billion, are presently linked to Janet Lim Napoles. “Six other NGOs, on the other hand, which received a total of P189 million, were found to have included the legislators, whose PDAF was transferred to the NGO, or a relative, as incorporator/officer,” Pulido-Tan said. In respect of infrastructure projects funded from VILP, about P1.393 billion were funded from the allocations of three (3) Senators and six (6) Representatives who were identified from the schedule of hard projects submitted by the DBM and from the records of the audited agencies, and several unidentified legislators.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 05:24:08 +0000