The municipality of Viga failed to implement 10 Gender and Development (GAD) projects with a total appropriation of P376,875.00 while 11 projects and programs with aggregate unutilized budget of P751,468.50 had low implementation rates.
The LGU’s lack of action on the programs defeated the GAD mandate to pursue women empowerment, gender equality and youth welfare and development, the Commission on Audit said in its report on the LGU’s transactions in 2023.
The partially implemented GAD programs with low implementation rates included the Women and Children’s Welfare Program (42%), Education & Manpower Development Program (50%), Diversion Program (63%), Solo Parents Program (40%), Livelihood Program for Women (70%), Youth Farmer Development Program (66%), Formulation of Human Resource Management & Development (67%), Communicable Disease & Control Program (44%) and Population Program (26%).
On the other hand, the GAD programs unimplemented during the year were: 4Ps Program, Legislative Enhancement Program, Scholarship Program, Organization of Committee, PRAISE, Annual Medical Check-up for Employees, CPB and AR Review, Capability Building Program, Monitoring & Evaluation, and Development of Gender-Responsive Information System.
The audit team urged the chief executive to require those in-charge of the GAD programs and projects to ensure that the approved PPAs are implemented as planned and to direct the concerned committee to establish an effective monitoring and evaluation system to monitor the implementation of the annual GAD Plan and Budget (GB and assess the status of the agency institutional mechanisms on gender mainstreaming.
The management justified the issues with the individual programs and projects but expressed its commitment to coordinate with concerned departments to ensure compliance with the audit recommendations.
In another significant finding, the report said excess cash advances of P277,504.38 remained unreturned as of year-end, contrary to Sec. 89 of D 1445 and the provisions of COA Circular No. 97-002, exposing the funds to possible loss or misappropriation.
The cash advances were granted to 22 employees, including an accountable officer and the disbursing officer, who did not refund or settle the CAs after the completion of their travels.
Three employees were granted additional cash advances despite their inability to fully settle their previous cash advances, the report added.
Of the total, P97,262.60 were aged more than 10 years and were considered dormant accounts, with the accounting office saying that demand letters sent to concerned officials and employees but they were no longer residing at the address stated in LGU records.
In infrastructure development, nine (9) projects under the 20% DF with a total appropriation of P3.1 million were not implemented in 2023 while savings from completed projects totaling P79,942.11 were not re-appropriated to augment funding of other development projects.
The unimplemented projects included the construction/rehabilitation of water system at Del Pilar, assistance to POs, NGOs and CSOs, purchase of lot and construction of multi-purpose hall at Ogbong, purchase of lot for development project site, repair/improvement of Viga River Park, financial assistance to livelihood projects, and counterpart funding for Salintubig and other NGA-funded projects.
The audit also showed that 46 parcels of land valued at P6.6 million and under the name of the municipality in the eTRACS system of the Municipal Assessor’s Office were not recognized by the LGU and not supported by TCT or equivalent documents.
The Municipal Assessor said that some of the lands were used for construction of road networks and that lands such as swamps, shorelines and the like could not be registered under the name of the LGU.
Travelling expenses amounting to P18,652.07 were incurred by a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) participant, who is not an LGU employee, while attending a trade event, the ProPak Asia 2024 held from June 14-17, 2023 at BITEC in Bangkok, Thailand, the report stated.
The audit team said the undertaking did not meet the criteria of an authorized official travel and the expenditure cast doubt as to the validity and propriety of the traveling expenses paid by the LGU.
The local chief executive justified the disbursement as made in support of the One Town, One Product (OTOP) program in a tie-up with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to enable local producers to offer their products in more competitive markets.
Deficiencies were found during verification in the Statement of Funding Sources for three (3) Supplemental Budgets (SBs) amounting to over P23 million which presented various savings as the source of funds.
Among the deficiencies were inaccurate computation of excess of actual collection over estimated revenue, unexplained suspension of payment of loan amortization, lack of MDC resolution declaring savings in the 20% Development Fund, and absence of proof of computed savings.
Meanwhile, disbursements for progress billings and final payments for infrastructure projects amounting to P60.7 million were not supported with complete documentation, raising doubts as to the validity and propriety of the transactions.
The transactions included three partial payments totaling P35 million for the construction of new four-story Viga municipal building.
The COA team also found that advance payment for the installation of street lights/solar street lights in different strategic areas in Viga amounting to P299,773.13 was not supported with irrevocable standby letter of credit or security fund.