DND refutes misuse of P352M emergency funds
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of National Defense (DND) on Saturday refuted state auditors’ report that it misused a huge portion of P352.5 million emergency relief funds in 2013, saying there was nothing anomalous in coursing the funds to fuel consumption and office repairs.
In a statement, the defense department said it “released and used its Quick Response Funds (QRF) in its mission to include capacitating stakeholders for disaster preparedness/mitigation and operations during the disaster itself.”
“This is so that losses and damages may be limited and that conditions may be quickly normalized,” the DND said.
The department made the statement as a reaction to a Philippine Daily Inquirer article, which quoted a Commission on Audit report (COA) as saying a “huge portion” of the QRF was spent for fuel consumption and office repairs instead of to storm victims.
According to the General Appropriations Act (GAA), the QRF was specifically intended to be used as “a stand-by fund for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction programs” for residents of communities affected by disasters.
The COA report said a “huge portion” of the QRF was spent for equipment, petroleum, oil and lubricants, training, construction/repairs and improvement, “which were not all consistent with the purposes of QRF…, thus, (defeating) the purpose of the fund.”
Meanwhile, COA said the department only spent P6.65 million, or less than 2 percent of its QRF for 2013, for the purchase of relief items for the victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), which left over 6,300 dead in November 2013.
The DND said fuel expenses are “critical” for the delivery of emergency services in order to “overcome human sufferings,” adding that transportation to and from the affected areas is a “primordial element of any emergency response activity.”
“(C)ritical to the mobilization so that the DND-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can respond is the provision of fuel for all aircraft, ships, trucks and other equipment that were placed on stand-by and which were employed for this purpose,” the department said.
“It is critical that relief goods, rescuers/responders, ancillary workers that deliver social services, repair materials, tents and communication equipment and so forth need to be transported to disaster affected areas immediately ‘to overcome human sufferings,’” it added.
The department also said it even utilized fuel reserved for war during the onslaught of Yolanda “as we are committed not to stop until the job is done.” The DND added that this fuel needed to be replenished.
It, however, did not address the COA’s findings about spending so little for Yolanda relief items.
COA said the DND should have spent the QRF for emergency and relief response after the calamity brought about by Yolanda, said to be the world’s strongest typhoon to hit land.
“The year 2013 would have been the opportune time to use the QRF for the purpose it was released due to the various calamities that occurred,” the COA said in the report posted on its website.
“However, the transfer of funds to IAs (implementing agencies) for projects not within the purposes of QRF, the noncompletion of the projects and the minimal liquidation by IAs of the fund transfers, defeat the purpose of the fund,” it added.
The DND also said there was nothing anomalous when it coursed the funds to attached implementing agencies, particularly to the AFP, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), Navy, Air Force, Philippine Military Academy, the Armed Forces Philippines (AFP) Finance Center and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
It said the funds were coursed to the attached agencies for “pre-disaster activities” such as “organization, training, and maintenance of response units (including the AFP) for actual disaster response operations.”
“It is essential that capacities and capabilities are enhanced particularly for the AFP, who are among the first responders in disaster response operations, and the OCD, who administers the comprehensive national civil defense and disaster risk and reduction management program,” the DND said.
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