Govt urban poor office flagged for fund wastage

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STATE auditors have called out the Presidential Commission for the Ur-ban Poor (PCUP) for various questionable expenses during the year, in-cluding payments for hotel accommodation and meals during training and conferences and claims of transportation costs beyond the allowed daily travel expenses (DTE).

Auditors reminded PCUP officials that transactions conducted in the manners that deviates or departs from accepted standards are deemed irregular under COA Circular No. 2012-003.

“Evaluation of the disbursement vouchers for the conduct of various trainings and planning conference of PCUP for CY 2023 revealed the activities had room and food reservation more than the actual partici-pants thus, the agency had incurred expenditures for unused reserva-tions,” the audit team said.

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Based on the audit report, 15 PCUP personnel did not attend three dif-ferent trainings and orientations in March 2023 causing the agency un-necessary expenses for hotels in Baguio City, Quezon City, and the CML Beach Resort in Lemery, Batangas.

In July 2023, three more planning and assessment sessions showed 35 PCUP officials and employees failed to show up, but hotel bills were still paid to the Hive Hotel and Convention Place and the Eastwood Rich-monde Hotel in Quezon City and the Tanza Oasis Hotel and Resort in Cavite.

Two more “action planning” events in August 2023 showed 19 no-shows among PCUP personnel with reservations at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel in Quezon City and the Tagaytay View Park Hotel in Tagaytay City.

Auditors noted that PCUP Memorandum No. 1697-22 required officials and employees to reimburse the agency for expenses if they fail to at-tend trainings unless their absence can be justified by accidents, serious illness, or other fortuitous events.

“Per inquiry with the accountant, no letter of justification regarding the employees’ reasons for missing the programs have been provided,” the COA said.

Between March to August 2023, there were also six activities where 25 PCUP personnel attended even if they were not covered by special or-ders or office orders issued by the management that would authorize their attendance.

Travel expenses by agency personnel were likewise questioned after scrutiny of itineraries and supporting documents showed most of the PCUP employees resorted to using private cars or carpooling then filed claims for transportation expenses that were deemed “excessive.”

Citing time constraint, the agency personnel explained that they opted for other means of transportation.

“The use of this means of transportation appears to be misused and ex-cessive as there is not supporting fare matrix or canvassing of public transportation costs,” the audit team noted.

In support of their claims of travel expenses, PCUP personnel submitted “bus charges for first class or deluxe tickets” as well as “Grab and Rome2Rio canvass.”

Inquiry by the auditors revealed the system has been ongoing even in prior years.

While the COA Circular No. 96-004 requires that “only ordinary public conveyance or customary modes of transport shall be used” exceptions are allowed for meritorious cases.

“Lack of internal guidelines and policies regarding the payment of trans-portation expenses leads to excessive and unnecessary claims of em-ployees,” the COA said.

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