The Commission on Audit has reportedly asked former Pandan Mayor Atty. Honesto Tabligan II and four other officials of the municipal government to settle a total of P862,000.00 in audit suspensions in connection with the questionable grant of educational assistance in 2022.
A reliable source who has seen the Notice of Suspension told the Tribune that the aforesaid officials failed to submit documents required by the audit team, particularly supporting documents required by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office’s Manual of Operations for the availment of the assistance such as Certificate of Eligibility issued by the MSWDO, Barangay Certificate of Indigency, certified photocopy of Certificate of Enrolment, and certified photocopy of School ID.
Also sought were the Obligations Requests (ObRs) with source of funds of the educational assistance indicated and the payroll sheets with acknowledgement of the beneficiaries including the dates when the cash assistance was released to beneficiaries as well as the certification of then Acting Municipal Treasurer.
Aside from Atty. Tabigan, the other officials who were allegedly sent the same Notice of Suspension were Municipal Accountant Manuel Soriao, former Acting Municipal Treasurer Maria Victoria Icaranom, Municipal Budget Officer Jocelyn delos Santos and budget staff Edna Icaranom.
If it remains unsettled within 90 days from receipt of the Notice of Suspension, the items suspended in audit shall become disallowance pursuant to Section 82 of Presidential Decree 1445, the COA warned.
It may be recalled that in 2023, an audit of transactions at Pandan LGU discovered that the past administration granted educational assistance of P500 to P1,000 each to more than 1,300 students but the disbursements were not supported with the required documents.
Due to the absence of the requirements, the LGU had no proof to substantiate the names appearing in the payroll sheet, thus casting doubts on the legality of the disbursements and eligibility of the recipients, the audit team stated.
The same report also disclosed that 129 beneficiaries of the educational assistance availed of it twice because their names were included in the payroll sheet twice.
Two beneficiaries got the cash aid thrice while two others had double the aid because their names were included in the payouts in two separate barangays.
A source also claimed that one of the beneficiaries was an incumbent barangay captain at the time.
Under DSWD Memorandum Circular No. 11, s. 2019, elementary students may be given assistance of P500 to P1,000 once every school year while high school students may be given P1,000 to P1,500 annually.
College students, on the other hand, may receive P2,000 to P5,000 per semester.
The finding, the COA report said, showed that the LGU’s program is not in sync with existing policies and practices similar to those of DSWD.
“It appeared that the distribution of the assistance was not equally among the beneficiaries due to additional grant of educational assistance to the same person,” the team stated. “This could be viewed as unfair to the recipients who received the same type of assistance only once and other qualified beneficiaries who did not benefit at all.”
In a reply, the MSWD Office stated that the transactions did not pass through her office for assessment evaluation of beneficiaries’ eligibility.