THE Commission on Audit (COA) has denied the petition of Infinite Community Integrated Development Support Foundation Inc. (ICIDSFI), a private foundation based in Angeles City, Pampanga, to be relieved of liability in relation to its receipt of P242.5 million public funds in 2008 for an agricultural project that did not materialize.
In a 10-page decision released last week, the COA en banc held that the foundation failed to prove its claim that it successfully implemented the “Mindanao-wide Intensified Rubber Production-Distribution of Rubber Planting Materials and Organic Fertilizers.”
Records showed the foundation received four tranches of fund releases from the ZNAC Rubber Estate Corporation (ZREC), a former government-owned or controlled corporation that was later abolished by former President Benigno S. Aquino III. ZNAC stands for Zamboanga del Norte Agricultural College, which has nothing to do with the GOCC.
The fund releases were made under the Department of Agriculture (DA) during the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, wherein P37.5 million was released to ICIDSFI on November 21, 2008, P87.5 million on December 17, 2008, P100 million on April 27, 2009, and P17.5 million on July 23, 2009.
An audit team sent to look into the transaction found deficient documentation with regard to the number and names of farmer beneficiaries and the supposed total of rubber seedlings distributed to the farmers.
According to ICIDSFI, it made payments to three different suppliers for deliveries of rubber seedlings, organic fertilizers, and office supplies.
However, state auditors discovered that the supposed suppliers – CR Rapiz Nursery and Garden for the seedlings worth (P179.55 million), Catvil Enterprises for the fertilizers totaling (P37 million), and Almega Trading for the office supplies amounting to P12 million used official receipts traced to a single booklet.
Unlike in regular purchases, the three suppliers issued the receipts randomly rather than in numerical order.
“There were deficiencies noted in the validation of the names, number of beneficiaries, and the rubber seedlings distributed to beneficiaries. Also, payments of big amounts in cash, absence of ORs acknowledging payments made, and the ORs submitted on transactions with suppliers which came from a single booklet of OR issued not in chronological sequence,” the COA said.
The ICIDSFI also failed to submit the necessary documents to support the legality of the disbursements.
State auditors noted that foundations like ICIDSFI are required by law to submit disbursement vouchers, delivery receipts, sales invoices, inspection reports, and maintain a checking account with the bank since ICIDSFI disburses millions of pesos of government funds.
“Likewise, the existence of the claims against government funds cannot be validated because ICIDSFI did not submit the list of farmers with signatures indicating that they attended the trainings conducted. Basic is the rule that in the conduct of the seminars to farmer beneficiaries, ICIDSFI is required to submit attendance sheets with complete signatures of farmer beneficiaries,” the commission pointed out.
Also missing were delivery receipts, certificates of acceptance, and inspection reports that would have established the implementation of the project.
Held liable were former ZREC president Salvador Salacup, ZREC treasurer Eduardo Nolasco, and ICIDSFI president Glenn Santos.
The appeal memorandum was filed with the COA by lawyer Darwin Reyes, the ICIDSFI corporate secretary.
The COA en banc ordered the audit records forwarded to the Office of the Ombudsman for further investigation on the possible filing of criminal charges against officials involved in transferring and processing the DA funds.
