THE House Committee on Public Accounts yesterday issued show cause orders against several officials of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) led by regional parliament Speaker Pangalian Balindong, a former House deputy speaker, after they snubbed the panel’s inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the use of the region’s local government support fund (LGSF).
The panel, chaired by Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod), issued the orders upon the motions of Reps. Keith Flores of Bukidnon and Romeo Acop of Antipolo City.
Balindong and his fellow BARMM officials told the panel in their letters that they chose not to appear in the committee’s initial hearing since the regional parliament is already conducting its own inquiry.
The House can order the arrest of resource persons after they are cited in contempt for repeatedly disregarding a committee’s summons.
Flores, a committee vice chair, rejected the argument, saying Congress has the right to exercise oversight power over the use of public funds in the whole country.
The administration lawmaker said the BARMM Parliament’s move to launch its own investigation “does not take away the prerogative of the House to conduct its own inquiry” while Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong pointed out that BARMM funds consist mostly of “bloc grants” or subsidies from the national government appropriated by Congress, which he said has the “authority to monitor the use of those funds.”
“This committee has the jurisdiction to investigate and inquire on funds that are being used by our government entities, by any bureaucracy, whether it is national or regional or local,” Adiong said.
He cited Article 12, Section 13 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), which grants Congress the sole authority to provide BARMM with bloc grants, stressing that the same authority gives Congress the power to monitor and oversee how the funds are spent.
“The fact, Mr. Chair, that under Article 12, Section 13 of the Bangsamoro Organic Law which actually provides that the Congress has the sole power to grant bloc grants to the BARMM’s utilization would also prove that the power to grant also has the power to monitor,” he said.
On the questioning of Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman, Hedjarah Mangompia-Said of the BARMM Commission on Audit office informed the committee that the regional government had released a total of P6.4 billion in LGSF funds from August 2024 up to last month. She said auditors are now examining the use of the funds.
In his privilege speech which led to the inquiry, Adiong said the BARMM office of the Chief Minister released LGSF funds amounting from P500,000 to P2.5 million to several barangays without any request from village officials.
Adiong cited reports that the Land Bank of the Philippines accounts of 400 barangay officials in Lanao del Sur received huge sums of money. He said certain individuals claiming to be from BARMM later asked these officials to withdraw the funds, turn over the money to them and leave a measly P200,000.
The lawmaker said that as allegedly per BARMM leadership’s instructions, the money was earmarked for “special operations,” which he said officials, themselves, could not explain.
Adiong initially suspected the funds could have been sourced from the local government support fund where P6.3 billion has been allocated to BARMM under the Bangsamoro Autonomy Act 56, or the General Appropriations Act of the Bangsamoro.
He said Bangsamoro Budget Circular 10 (Series of 2024), along with the DBM Local Budget Circular 155 (Series of 2024), “provide specific guidelines for the release and utilization of the LGSF.”
“This portion of both circulars was clearly not followed according to civil society watchdogs,” Adiong said. “The circular emphasizes the requirement for a Special Budget Request from Local Chief Executives before any funds are disbursed.”
