THE Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent P489.11 million for its various assistance programs in 2021 — up by 48 percent or P159.22 million from P329.89 million the year before.
This was revealed in the 2021 report of the Commission on Audit released last July 15.
Medical and burial assistance showed the biggest increase year on year at P326.07 million from P102.25 million, or a 219 percent increase.
Sustainable livelihood and training subsidy assistance more than doubled from P2.387 million in 2020 to P5.2 million last year.
Expenses on isolation facilities and meals for personnel who were exposed to those who tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) also rose by 176 percent to settle at P4.067 million against P1.472 million in the previous year.
Transferred funds to various hospitals under the OVP’s Medical Assistance Program, however, dropped to P153.275 million from P223.078 million in 2020.
Government auditors noted that the office of Vice President Leni Robredo did not receive any COVID-19 fund from the national government and was not a recipient of any sums under the special funds for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Bangon Marawi and Typhoon Yolanda Rehabilitation.
However, the OVP still spent P101.826 million for COVID-19 related activities, mostly for programs to support government efforts at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
A breakdown in the audit report showed P41.004 million went to Bayanihan E-Konsulta, P19.28 million for the Vaccine Express to help local government units beef up the number of their vaccinated residents, P18.54 million for the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and relief operations, P11.99 million for swab tests and support system to OVP employees, and P7.81 million for the Swab Cab, a mobile mass testing project to assist communities with high COVID-19 transmission and infection rates.
But the COA questioned the validity of the OVP’s hiring of a private lawyer as a legal consultant without first securing the conformity of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and the commission.
Without this prior approval, the audit team said the payment of compensation of the legal consultant may be considered “irregular and unnecessary expenditures.”
It pointed out that the conformity of the COA and the OSG is required under COA Circular No. 95-011.
Aside from the legal consultant, the OVP also hired three other private lawyers as consultant for partnership building and policy advocacy for rural development at P76,907 per month; executive consultant for strategic communications at P161,231 a month; and regulatory compliance consultant also at P161,231 a month.
The COA said agency officials who signed or approved the contracts of service of the said consultants must be held liable to refund the wages of the said personnel.
In its reaction to the audit observation, the OVP said it made a request to the Office of the President for the necessity of hiring third level positions, including a consultant as a core group of policy advisers, but this was not acted upon.
It explained that other than being a position of “utmost trust and confidence” for the Vice President, the said legal consultant rendered work that were “policy-determining and highly technical in nature.”
