THE P1.2 billion worth of funds that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) previously transferred to the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for the implementation of the Duterte administration’s national broadband project has been returned to the national treasury, Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza said yesterday.
The fund was returned after the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) last month told the House joint committee on good government and on information technology that the transfer was unauthorized.
“I’m happy to note that said funds had already been transferred to the Bureau of the Treasury last month,” Daza said in a statement, adding that “the people’s will has won.”
Daza thanked former MMDA chairman and now Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. for ensuring the return of the funds, saying his efforts in reaching out to MMDA, “I believe, contributed to the positive outcome.”
It was Budget Acting Director Perpetual Judea Quiazon who told lawmakers that the DBM did not issue an authority for the fund transfer.
The hearing was held on the instance of Daza who questioned the P1.2 billion transfer when the MMDA was about to award the contract for the NCR Fiber Optic Backbone Development project to the winning bidder.
Quiazon has said that the DICT violated Section 78 of the General Appropriations Act’s (GAA) general provisions, which provides that the DBM “should authorize or approve modifications to the budget from one allotment class to another, from an operating unit to another, and within a special purpose fund.”
In the same hearing, it was discovered that even the DICT’s internal counsel strongly advised against the transfer, citing the principle of ultra vires, meaning that such an endeavor is “beyond the scope and power” of the agency.
Daza said the House of Representatives and the DBM have to thoroughly scrutinize the practice of interagency transfers to ensure that everything is aboveboard.
“I am aware that it is being done every now and then. However, there should be clearer guidelines and accountability,” he said. “As with anything in government, please, let’s just do it right. Let’s do it for the peace of mind of our taxpayers,” he added.
Daza also called on DICT to ensure that critical programs such as the free Wi-Fi and national broadband will be fast-tracked given the problematic roll-out in the past aggravated by delays caused by the pandemic. He mentioned the use of technology to improve budget monitoring in line with the government’s proposed digitization efforts.
