P420-M pondo ng PCOO para sa nat’l ID ‘binaril’ ng COA
ni ROSE NOVENARIO
KINUWESTIYON ng Commission on Audit (COA) kung saan napunta ang P419,563,200 pondo ng Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) o national ID system na ibinigay ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) sa Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Nakasaad sa 2020 Annual Audit Report ng COA, kulang ang implementasyon ng mga aktibidad at paggamit ng pondo ng PhilSys ng PCOO batay sa nilagdaang memorandum of agreement sa PSA.
Ipinunto sa ulat, ang mga kaukulang Report of Disbursements (RDs) na isinumite sa Audit Team ay hindi suportado ng mga dokumento kaya’t ang kawastohan ng paggasta sa pondo ay hindi masukat.
Tinukoy rin ng COA na may P93-M pang hindi ginalaw sa halos P420-M pondo sa nakalipas na taon dahil hindi ibinigay sa People’s Television Network Inc., (PTNI), at Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
Hindi isinakatuparan ng PCOO ang mga binalak na aktibidad para sa mainstream media gaya ng advertisement sa TV, radio at iba pa, kahit naglaan ng budget na P120.6 milyon para rito.
Sinabi ng COA, wala rin inupahang mga tao ang PCOO para bumuo ng Monitoring Division ng PhilSys project kaya’t hindi natutukan ang pagususumite ng kaukulang report ng Implementing Agencies (IA).
Kabilang sa attached agencies ng PCOO na nagsilbing IA ang National Printing Office (NPO), News and Information Bureau (NIB), Bureau of Communications Service (BCS), at Philippine Broadcasting Service – Bureau of Broadcast Services (PBS-BBS).
“The implementation of activities under the MOA between the PCOO and PSA as well as the utilization of the PSA transferred funds for the PhilSys project were with deficiencies as follows: a) fund received from PSA amounting to P93,000,000 had been idle for more than one year, due to non-transfer of funds to PIA and PTNI, and the non-implementation of the planned activities for mainstream media such as media placements in Top TV, radio stations and others; b) PCOO has yet to hire personnel for the Monitoring Division of the PCOO PhilSys Project Team; hence submission of required reports by the Implementing Agencies ( IA) was not being closely monitored; and c) the related Report of Disbursements (RDs) submitted to the Audit Team were not supported with documents; thus, validity of expenditures charged against the PSA transferred funds could not be ascertained,” ayon sa COA report.
Kinuwestiton din ng state auditors ang PCOO sa pagkuha ng 375 contractual personnel na tumanggap ng kabuuhang P70.6 milyong suweldo kahit ang kanilang trabaho ay ginagawa ng mga regular na empleyado.
Kabilang sa mga posisyon ng contractual employees ay graphic artist, scriptwriter, public relations officer, at photographer.
“In addition, accomplishment reports of COS personnel were exactly the same with one another. Only the name and the period covered are being changed,” pahayag ng COA.