A 133-PAGE special audit report on the P942.51 million Malampaya Fund transferred to the Department of Agriculture — Regional Field Office 3 (DA-RFO 3) has revealed that thousands of names received government funds as “farm assistance” even if their names could not be verified.
The report was released by the Commission on Audit on November 9, 2023, but an advance copy was already submitted to DA RFO 3 Director Crispulo Bautista Jr. as of July 17, 2023.
Auditors said the report only covered transactions totaling P544.63 million, or just 57.79 percent of the total sub-allotment.
This included P421.28 million used in the implementation of the Fertilizer Assistance Program (FAP), Fertilizer Subsidy Program (FSP), Farm-to-Market Roads (FMR) project, and certified seed (CS) project, and P123.35 million transferred from the DA-RFO3 to other implementing agencies, particularly local government units (LGUs).
Verification of 8,744 beneficiaries in the provinces of Nueva Ecija and Bataan revealed that only 3,121 were real farmers who were officially registered with their respective Municipal Agriculture Office’s (MAO) master list of recipient farmers.
Auditors said 4,865 names were nowhere to be found in the MAO’s lists, while 758 names were considered as no longer verifiable.
They said the MAO lists were supposed to identify farmers who need farm inputs, including tools, seeds, and fertilizers.
“The Audit Team verified the qualification of the 8,744 beneficiaries against the master list of farmers from municipal agriculturists which disclosed that only 33.69 percent were in the list, 55.64 percent were not in the list, and 8.67 percent were not verified due to illegible names in the ARs (acknowledgment receipts),” the COA said.
The audit team’s verification only covered four municipalities in both provinces: Sto. Domingo, Talugtug, Licab, and Cuyapo in Nueva Ecija; and Hermosa, Samal, Pilar, and Abucay in Bataan.
The biggest number of unlisted names were found in Sto. Domingo with 1,724; Talugtug with 986; Hermosa with 879; and Licab with 749.
Audit figures from Sto. Domingo showed only 113 farmers or just 5.5 percent of the 2,056 total beneficiaries were officially included in the master list.
In Talugtug, the 283 legitimate names on the MAO list only accounted for 21.85 percent against the total of 1,295 recipients. On the other hand, in Licab, there were 1,069 listed farmers or 51.77 percent against the 2,065 that received DA assistance.
In Hermosa, the 1,088 valid names on the list only accounted for 54.32 percent of the total 2,003 who benefitted.
“The non-inclusion of the 4,865 individuals in the list of farmers maintained by the municipal agriculturists casts doubt on their qualification as beneficiaries of the projects. Their identity as farmers and their need for assistance from the government could not be established,” the COA said.
