Several deficiencies were noted in the Caramoran local government unit’s acquisition of food items intended for the implementation of the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) last year.
In its report on the LGU’s 2021 transactions, the Commission on Audit said the procurement of the food items were not in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement between the LGU and the department, as well as provisions of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 9184, Presidential Decree 1445, and DSWD Administrative Order No. 4, Series of 2016.
The report stated that the MOA covered the LGU’s implementation of the feeding program that would provide food, in addition to regular means, to target children ages 2-5 years old enrolled in the Child Development Centers (CDCs) and Supervised Neighborhood Plays (SNPs) as part of the DSWD’s contribution to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program of the national government.
The SFP was considered a priority program necessary to address hunger and food security issues during the COVID-19 emergency, with DSWD transferring P1,508,400.00 to the LGU pursuant to the agreement.
According to the audit findings, the amount of P1,508,000.00 was liquidated in four instances through “cash assistance payrolls” of P377,100.00, with the documents showing that a total of 838 children in 24 barangays of Caramoran were catered for the 120 feeding days from July 2021 to October 2021.
However, a review of the disbursement vouchers and supporting documents showed that the acquisition of the food items was not submitted first to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) for evaluation and determination of the appropriate mode of procurement.
Instead, the funds were released to Barangay Day Care Workers in 11 tranches through payroll, the team stated.
The MSWD Officer told the team that the day care workers purchased the food items directly from the suppliers, mostly from their respective barangays.
The food items were then endorsed to the Day Care Parents’ Committee for the preparation of meals and distribution to the beneficiary children.
The audit team pointed out that the purchases made by the DCWs were not verified if supported with official receipts or its equivalent as proof of actual purchase of goods as the liquidation of the cash was only supported by a Cash Assistance Payroll signed by the workers.
No documentation was likewise provided to support that purchases were made from local farmers’ organization composed of poor and/or smallholder farmers pursuant to DSWD AO No. 4.
In the interview with COA, the MSWD Officer said that they opted to delegate the purchase of goods to the DCWs to ensure the quality of the food items and prevent spoilage of perishable items.
In recent years, she claimed, they encountered unavoidable food spoilage when the goods were delivered by DSWD due to distance and time consumed during delivery.
“The LGUs non-compliance with the terms and conditions of the MOA, procurement laws, and accounting and auditing rules, on the manner of acquisition of food items cast doubt on the propriety of the transactions and indicated weakness of internal control,” the COA stressed.
In a reply to the Audit Observation Memorandum, the MSWD Officer explained that the manner of procurement of the goods was consulted with the mayor, accountant and DSWD focal person, and that the same procedure was done for the past cycles of SFP.
During the exit conference, the liquidation reports prepared by the DCWs were submitted to the audit team, which was informed that the 11 MSWD Officers in the province would meet to address the matter and the implementation of succeeding cycles of the program.
In another finding, the LGU failed to fully implement 20 of the 58 priority development projects under the 20% Development Fund (DF) for CY 2021, with 18 projects still ongoing at the time of the audit.
The unimplemented projects had a total cost of P11,927,319.97, representing 24.30 percent of the total DF of P49,076,928.26.
“The delay in the execution and completion of development projects under the 20% DF deprived the constituents and the general public as a whole of the immediate use of the infrastructure projects,” the audit team emphasized.
Concerned officials, however, blamed the strict compliance to COVID-19 health protocols and repetitive lockdowns of government offices for the delay.
On the other hand, the LGU was able to implement only 64.99 percent of projects totaling P4.6 million under the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF).
The unimplemented programs and projects amounting to P2.3 million included the purchase of drugs, medicines, canned goods and NFA rice, Cash-for-Work, maintenance and repair of isolation facility, purchase of palay and vegetable seeds, and biologics.