The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Agriculture (DA) for billions of unspent funds and accounting "irregularities" prompting several farmers’ groups to slam the government agency led by Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
In COA’s report on DA's operations and financial highlights in 2020, it was revealed that as much as P34.45 billion worth of DA funds lacked “complete accounting records” and had “accounting errors/omissions.”
"A qualified opinion was rendered on the financial statements due to various accounting errors/omissions amounting to P2,087.408 million, which exceeded the materiality level of P360.581 million and accounting deficiencies such as the absence of subsidiary ledgers and lack of complete accounting records on 379 accounts with an aggregate amount of P32,362.002 million which prevented alternative audit procedures to be undertaken to obtain sufficient and appropriate evidence relating to various assertions on the accounts,” the report said.
The report also highlighted the agency’s fund utilization of P56.2 billion, which is only 92.51 percent compared to its allotment of P60.80 billion, with unobligated amount of P4.5 billion. This, according to the report, was due to the delays in the procurement process and discontinuance of implemented projects to address the emergency situation brought by COVID-19 pandemic.
COA also spotted some "irregularities" in DA’s procurement contracts as well as in the distribution of farm inputs to farmers and raisers.
The COA report stated that “procurement contracts amounting to P2,075.653 million of nine DA offices were processed, approved and awarded to various suppliers/consultants/contractors despite lacking supporting documents required”.
Likewise, it said that five DA offices distributed to beneficiaries the assorted vegetable seeds and livestock amounting to P37.471 million, while the distribution of seeds, fertilizers, livestock, and feeds in seven DA offices amounting to P1.02 billion was "not compliant" with DA Memorandum Orders (MO) 19 and 31 issued last year.
MO 19 is the Implementing Guidelines for the Rice Resiliency Project, while MO 30 is the Amendment to Memorandum Order No. 19 series of 2020, or the Implementing Guidelines for the Rice Resiliency Project.
Meanwhile, a total of P250.53 million were reportedly “overpaid” or “over-remitted” to farmer-beneficiaries under the Rice Resiliency Project-Rice Farmers Fertilizer Program (RRP-RFFA), Cash and Food Subsidy to Marginalized Farmers and Fisherfolks (CFSMFF), and Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers (FSRF) programs, the COA report said.
The audit report cited as reasons the payment to 61,950 unqualified beneficiaries, the double/triple reporting of a total of 14,058 beneficiaries, and the “incorrect” pricing of goods such as fertilizers, among others.
COA also observed that the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), which the DA relies upon in terms of aid distribution, is unreliable.
“The accuracy of the farmers’ database could not be relied upon due to the assignment of multiple RSBSA numbers to a single farmer beneficiary and /or the assignment of RSBSA number to two or more farmer-beneficiaries,” the report stated.
It further noted that “8,210 RSBSA numbers were issued to two or more farmer beneficiaries.” Single RSBSA registry numbers were designated to two individual farmers to as many as 563 such as in Sultan Kudarat.
Meanwhile, up to P17.56 billion of DA’s fund transfers were also unliquidated in 2020. The COA report stated that P17.54 billion, or 83 percent)of the Department’s fund transfers to national government agencies, local government units, government-owned and controlled corporations, and non-government organizations; and P13.8 million of fund transfers for office supplies and equipment “were not liquidated”, contrary to COA circulars.
The report also noted that P20.2 billion and P153.82 million fund transfers to DA’s various implementing agencies and for office supplies, respectively, remained unliquidated from previous years.
DA officials, including Dar, were sought for comments about the COA report, but none has issued a response yet.
For his part, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) National Chairperson Danilo Ramos slammed the DA and Dar himself for mishandling public funds meant for Filipino farmers.
“Farmers repeatedly face crop failures and income losses due to the dumping of imports, militarist lockdowns, and extreme climate, yet Dar 'mishandles' the already paltry agriculture budget,” Ramos said.
“It is now upon the DA to prove that no corruption, plunder, or any other irregularity occurred with the disbursement of this P34 billion,” he added.
Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) National Chairperson Fernando Hicap also said the billions of unused funds by the DA last year were crucial to the struggling farmers and fisherfolks in the midst of a public health and economic crisis.
“The unspent funds could have addressed the worsening plight of our rural sectors enduring the onslaught of the pandemic since last year. The budget is very crucial to the rural sectors especially this was the year when aside from the government’s burdening pandemic response, natural calamities including typhoons devastated fishing and farming communities,” Hicap said.
“Furthermore, farmers and fishers bear the brunt of the government’s neglect as they have limited to no access to health services and production subsidies,” he added.