HUMANITARIAN and disaster relief funds amounting to P174.76 million remained unutilized by regional offices of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as of yearend 2021, government auditors revealed.
The amount represented 25.83 percent of the P676.585 million released by the OCD to its 17 regional offices last year as total disbursements were reported at P491.89 million.
According to RA 11518 or the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the money was intended for “rehabilitation and relief programs and projects,” which include pre-positioning supplies, emergency response teams, equipment, and other support items for faster response to calamity-stricken areas.
Auditors said the low utilization rate of funds by the OCD regional offices under the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) Program deprived the government and the disaster victims of the benefit due them.
A breakdown of the fund utilization showed the most efficient was OCD-National Capital Region (NCR), which spent P4.623 million out of P4.874 million received or 94.82 percent.
At the other end of the balance were OCD Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) with a utilization rate of only 38.23 percent (P2.515 million spent against P6.58 million available fund); OCD Cordillera Administrative Region, 47.54 percent utilization rate (P9.115 million spent against P19.174 million available fund); and OCD Region 7 (Central Visayas), 47.73 utilization rate (P5.595 million spent against P13.222 million available fund).
Likewise, the Commission on Audit tagged OCD Regional Offices 1 (Ilocos Region), 4B (Mimaropa), and 7 (Central Visayas) for low utilization of COVID-19 Fund, with only P164.45 million charged against P247.846 million set aside for their use.
“Section 21 of the 2021 GAA provides that all agencies of the government shall ensure the timely and sufficient provision of critical supplies …(or) those vital to the support of operations. This includes fuel, equipment, spare parts, personal protective equipment (PPE) items, COVID-19 response items, and others,” the COA said.
Regional Office 7 used only P2.46 million out of P30.17 million or just 8.14 percent of sums available.
On the other hand, Regional Office 4B spent only P13.78 million out of its P47.73 million COVID-19 funding equivalent to 28.87 percent.
Regional Office 1 utilized P148.21 million out of P169.94 million funding for an 87.22 percent but it was still included.
“The ROs claimed that the low utilization of the fund was primarily due to the late downloading of funds from the CO (Central Office), incomplete technical specifications and/or details of the proposed procurement as well as lack of technical expertise of the Regional Bids and Awards Committee,” the COA noted.
Based on the recommendation from the audit team, the OCD management vowed to work with its regional director to improve the planning of procurement activities with consideration on the urgency of their completion.
It said it will also look into speeding up the downloading of funds to the regional offices.
