All-expense paid trips for kin of TIEZA execs, consultants exposed by COA

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THE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) incurred P13.84 million in representation expenses in 2023, including the cost of round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, and meals for relatives of agency officials and consultants.

Government auditors said members of TIEZA’s Board of Directors (BOD) as well as agency consultants brought along relatives during out-of-town meetings conducted in Boracay and Palawan and used public funds to pay for their plane tickets and hotel rooms.

A test sampling of the representation expenses documents conducted by the audit team showed P1.17 million in questionable disbursements in Boracay and Palawan wherein P787,939 was paid for hotel bills and P381,319 for airline tickets.

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“Lastly, P477,833 was spent for individuals who are not connected with TIEZA at all, for activities held in Boracay and Baguio. They are neither part of the employee complement nor relatives of the members of the Board and consultants,” the audit team said.

In one instance, auditors also found that TIEZA paid for a consultant’s trip to Boracay, including five of his family members. In the liquidation document, the agency did not even provide any explanation about the purpose of the trip and why a family of six was needed for it.

The COA warned agency officials that under Administrative Order No. 6 issued on September 19, 2017, the national government imposed austerity measures requiring all offices to observe “prudent use of government funds” and to avoid “irregular, unnecessary, extravagant, excessive, and unconscionable expenses.”

Aside from shouldering the cost of all-expense-paid trips for officials’ kin, TIEZA was likewise called out for spending P3.5 million on “meals, snacks/food and groceries” supposedly consumed during regular/routine meetings.

“The meals and snacks served for regular or routine meetings, which in some instances were conducted almost every day, were not essential in the conduct of the regular work/duties since the participants were in their official workstations,” auditors pointed out.

For meals during regular work meetings, the COA said the cost should be paid out of the officials’ own pockets.

The COA questioned the frequency of out-of-town meetings held by the TIEZA executives even if there were sufficient facilities at the agency’s office premises.

Curiously, the venues chosen were in popular resorts with expensive accommodations.

“We noted that out-of-town meetings were conducted in Boracay and Palawan which can be carried out in the Authority’s main office in Pasay City or can be done virtually. Such activities necessitated the incurrence of P388,706 for meals and snacks, additional expenses for hotel accommodation of P232,633 and plane tickets of P254,330 not only for the participants but also for their staff,” the audit team noted.

Likewise, receipts were found showing meals and snacks paid totaling P335,671 but the dates showed they happened during weekends. Topping everything off was a bill for P12,004 worth of cakes and pastries for “birthday celebrations of some officials and employees.”

The COA questioned the validity of the travel expenses, noting the absence of travel authority, office order, and relevant documents containing details on the purpose of the travel.

“We also noted that the Authority availed of high-end accommodations with round-trip airfares as well as choice seats and baggage allowances which entail additional costs to TIEZA,” the commission said.

In its comment to the audit observations, the TIEZA said airline fare and hotel bills of persons not connected to TIEZA were “members of the staff of the Board Directors.”

However, the audit team said documents like certified copies of the appointments of the travel companions should be submitted or the expenses will be disallowed.

Records of TIEZA’s workforce showed it hired eight consultants in 2023.

A breakdown of the agency’s expenses showed its local travels increased by over P10 million from P32.58 million in 2022 to P42.79 million in 2023.

Foreign travel spending, on the other hand, increased eight-fold from P829,202 in 2022 to P6.752 million in 2023.

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Consultancy services spending also nearly doubled from P48.89 million in 2022 to P95.05 million in 2023. 

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