Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor will resign his post if the Commission on Audit report indicating adverse observations of its audit in Quezon City turns out to be false as claimed by the city government.
Defensor, who is running for mayor under the UniTeam ticket, declared he is standing by his statement that COA questioned the use by the city government of P479 million granted by the national government in 2020 as COVID-19 pandemic assistance.
For the QC folks to find out the truth, Defensor urged them to visit the COA website (coa.gov.ph, then click annual reports, 2020, local government units, national capital region, Quezon City) for the report.
“If Mayor Joy Belmonte can prove that it is fake news, then I am willing to resign as a member of Congress. If she cannot, then she should resign,” said the representative of health advocacy group Anakalusugan.
Belmonte dismissed the claim of her political rival, with the city government decrying it as “woefully outdated” and “outright lies”
Last week, OIC-COA Supervising Auditor Joseph L. Perez cleared the city government and told Belmonte that the city government had submitted the documentary requirements indicated in the 2020 audit findings in connection with the P479 million Bayanihan funds it received.
“Results of our evaluation showed that the lacking documents noted in the abovementioned AOM had already been substantially complied with,” said Perez in a letter to the city mayor.
Defensor argued that COA had indeed questioned the QC government in relation to the 2020 audit, adding that the audit’ agency’s website cannot be lying.
“You can check for yourself who is lying,” he said.
Defensor said he is even willing to publish the relevant portion of the document “in the newspaper the Belmontes have reportedly sold to the PLDT Group but which they continue to use against me, as a paid advertisement if they will accept it.”
He quoted the report: “Payments for relief goods totaling P479.120 million sourced from Bayanihan grant to cities and municipalities were not supported with complete documentation contrary to Section 4 (6) of Presidential Decree No. 1445, and Item No. 3.6 of Government Procurement Policy Board Circular No. 01-2020 dated April 6, 2020.”
“Likewise, the posting and reporting requirements under Item Nos. 4.1 and 4.4 of Local Budget Circular No. 125 dated April 7, 2020, were not complied with. Thus, the validity and regularity of the transactions cannot be ascertained,” the COA report stated.
The report showed that of the P479 million, the city government spent P385 million on food packs, P84.7 million on rice and plastic bags, and P9.4 million on noodles.
Auditors identified four documents that were lacking: updated procurement plan; proof of online posting of notice of award, contract or purchase order, copy of notice to the Department of Budget and Management, House of Representatives and Senate; and details of the quantity received by each beneficiary of food aid.
At the time auditors wrote their report, the updated procurement plan, notice of online posting of award, contract or purchase order, and food pack distribution details had not been submitted.
Defensor has claimed that the city government has overpriced food packs by as much as 45 percent or P514 resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions in taxpayers’ money.
He said the grocery packages were priced at P1,149.98 each. However, a canvass made his his staff showed that these could be bought only at P636 per pack.