An audit of a joint project by the Gigmoto local government and the Department of Health (DOH) covering the installation of 35 household sanitary toilets in six barangays were found to have lapses during its implementation in 2024.
According to the Annual Audit Report for the town, pursuant to a memorandum of agreement between the DOH Bicol Center for Health and the LGU, the amount of 1,575,000.00 was released by the former as fund support to the implementation of a sanitation program through the installation of household sanitary toilets to achieve Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) status.
The fund was used to augment the LGU allocation for the installation of the toilets with a maximum cost of P45,000 per unit, with a total of 35 units built for the following barangays; Sioron, 10; District III, 3; San Vicente, 5; Biong, 10; Dororian, 5; and San Pedro, 2.
Under the MOA, the downloaded amount was to be used for the procurement of supplies and materials
and not for payment of labor services.
Hence, the LGU appropriated additional budget to cover the labor and other services for the completion
of the project under Supplemental Budget Nos. 2 and 3.
However, the Audit Team, upon verification of the documents and interviews with concerned officials, noted some lapses in the implementation of the program.
It stated that a project cost of ₱3,494,921.06 was budgeted by the LGU for the construction and installation of 35 units of toilets without the necessary costing per unit by the Municipal Engineering Office (MEO).
As the total cost was computed and presented on a lumpsum basis, the reasonableness of the cost per unit could not be determined and there is no assurance of compliance with the contract terms, the audit report said.
On the other hand, acknowledgement or turn-over of the completed projects was made by the local chief executive instead of the 35 beneficiaries of the program.
The auditors also highlighted the seven-month delay in the implementation and completion of the program after the receipt of the fund on Jan. 5, 2024.
The delay in execution and completion of the project deprived the beneficiaries of the immediate use and benefits of the program, they added.
In another finding, the watchdog agency found that the net take home pay of fourteen (14) employees were below the mandated minimum amount of ₱5,000.00, not in consonance with Section 56 of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for Fiscal Year 2024, which may eventually affect the work performance of the employees.
Scrutiny of payrolls disclosed that personnel’s deductions were for mandatory contributions and/ or obligations payable to BIR, PhilHealth, GSIS & HDMF, payment of loans payable to government such as GSIS, PAG-IBIG and government and private lending institutions.
The LGU also incurred unnecessary expenditures totaling ₱39,500.00 which pertain to registration fees paid to various leagues and associations for their regular meetings within the province, thus depleting government funds which could be used for other priority programs.
The audit showed that the municipality paid registration fees ranging from ₱1,000.00 to ₱5,000.00 to various leagues and associations where the Municipal Mayor, SB Secretary, SB Members and various Department Heads are members.
However, a review of the supporting documents disclosed that the meetings attended by the officials were regular and recurring, with agenda primarily focused on administrative matters, policy updates, and coordination activities.
“As such, these meetings are inherent to their duties as league members and department heads and do not qualify as specialized trainings, seminars, or conventions—events that are designed to provide skills,” the COA said.
It pointed out that the collection of registration fees is associated with specialized programs aimed at enhancing participants’ knowledge or skills and the meetings attended by the municipal officials, which generally lasted for a day or less, did not meet these criteria and did not require such extensive resources. The costs incurred were primarily limited to meals, which could have been covered by the league’s existing resources or the officials’ representation and transportation allowances, rather than being charged to LGU fund and professional development.
The report recommended that the mayor and concerned municipal officials discontinue the payment of registration fees to various leagues and associations for the conduct of regular and routinary meetings within the province; consider proposing to their respective leagues that the conduct of 1-day meetings may be done through teleconferencing to eliminate the incurrence of traveling expenses and registration fees, or holding them at government- operated function halls, session halls and event centers to minimize costs; and exercise due prudence in the disbursement of government funds to avoid incurrence of unnecessary expenditures.
In another observation, the auditors said that the LGU was not able to formulate the policies and procedures in hiring Job Order (JO) personnel, a total of 791 of which were hired during the year at an average of 65 JOs per month.
The office of the mayor hired a total of 179 JO workers while the Office of the Vice Mayor had 157, with another 147 assigned to roads and streets.
They noted the hiring of numerous personnel with the same functions in an office/station, resulting to redundancy of functions and unnecessary incurrence of additional wage expenses; accomplishment reports did not reflect their actual duties or tasks; specific duties and responsibilities of the JO workers were not
attached to the Job Order contract; notice of employment was issued by the chief executive to the JOs
instead of a Job Order Agreement; and a uniform rate per day was given to the job order personnel, be it as administrative aide, utility worker, office aide and even for JOs whose technical knowledge/experience is used for the discharge of their job.
Other significant findings were: premium contributions and loan amortizations due to Government Service
Insurance System (GSIS) deducted from the salaries of employees together with government share thereto were not fully remitted within the prescribed period; and Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) contributions and repayments of loan amortizations and premium contributions to Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) deducted from the salaries of regular/permanent employees were not fully remitted by the municipality.
However, the COA commended the Gigmoto LGU for its substantial implementation of programs, projects and activities funded from the 20% Economic Development Fund (EDF) for CY 2024 as well as for full settlement of cash advances drawn by the Municipal Treasurer in CY 2024 totaling ₱28.687 million.
Seventeen (17) Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Rehabilitation programs for CY 2024 were also fully implemented attaining 80.95 per cent accomplishment that substantially complied with the provisions of Republic Act 10121.