Only 16 of the 219 aviation industry operators, who were identified as critically impacted business owners in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, got financial assistance from the P300 million allotted by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and received P52.8 million in “excess grants.”

In its 2022 audit report on CAAP, the Commission on Audit (COA) said that the financial assistance given to the 16 aviation operators was far beyond the six-month period allowed by the grant.

COA said the excess financial assistance given to 16 operators should be returned to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).

With its findings, COA directed the CAAP to coordinate with these 16 beneficiaries and arrange for the return of the excess grants they received. It asked CAAP to re-evaluate the request of other critically-impacted businesses to determine if they are qualified to receive the grant.

Also, COA asked CAAP to coordinate with the DOTr and request approval for the re-allocation or re-distribution of the P52.875 million to other qualified beneficiaries.

"Scrutiny of documents revealed that the 16 beneficiaries availed of the grant for seven to eight months, exceeding the six-month period allowed under Section 4(gg)(2) of Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act and CAAP Memorandum Circular No. 32-2020. The excess financial assistance amounted to P52.875 million," COA said.

"While the audit team understands that the program was created to extend assistance to critically-impacted businesses in the aviation sector, granting the said assistance over of what the law allows is deemed irregular," it said.

It noted that under RA 11494, "any critically impacted business may avail of the grant for a period of not more than six months,” while the CAAP circular states that "if the balance of the trust fund is insufficient to cover the total billings of all qualified beneficiaries for the month, each beneficiary's claim shall be subsidized on a pro-rated basis based on the remaining fund balance."

COA did not name the aviation operators which received the grants. But it said three operators received the bulk of the subsidy. They were named only as Air Operator 2, Air Operator 7, and Air Operator 13, who each received P59,799,621, P77,381,938, and P70,499,931, respectively, for the first six months.

It said the amount of grants the three operators received beyond the six-month period were P11,341,007, P15,253,043, and P13,736,220, respectively.