MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Audit (CoA) has ordered the Department of Justice to remit to the national treasury the more than P73-million balance from the Victims’ Compensation Fund (VCF).
VCF was created under Republic Act 7309 to provide monetary compensation to persons who became victims of unjust imprisonment or detention, and victims of violent crimes. The monetary compensation is awarded through the Board of Claims (BoC) which was created by RA 7309. The Board of Claims is under the DoJ.
The P73 million is currently deposited with the DoJ’s trust fund at the Land Bank of the Philippines.
In an appeal for reconsideration, the DoJ maintained that the VCF should stay at the special account (of the DoJ) for an expeditious and inexpensive grant of claims.
“The BoC considered the need to maintain this trust fund in order to address the ever increasing volume of claims, to ensure the immediate payment and release of such claims and to continue the smooth operation of the BoC and its expeditious delivery of service,” the DoJ said.
But CoA said it has to be turned over to the Bureau of Treasury because it is required under Executive Order No. 338 issued in 1996 and Joint Circular 1-97 among COA, the Department of finance, and the Department of Budget and Management. Both EO and the joint circular have been issued to prevent the national government from borrowing to finance its projects and instead use the “huge cash immobilized in various accounts of agencies.”
Based on CoA 2011 Audit Report, only P39,113.19 of the VCF has been remitted to the Bureau of Treasury.
“We understand the predicament of the agency, however, we uphold our position that management has no reason to maintain the collections; hence, the same should be remitted to the Bureau of Treasury…” CoA said. It noted that since it is not remitted to the national treasury, it has been easy for the DoJ to use it for expenses other than its purpose.
CoA documents showed that there were a total of P5,503,766.63 expenses taken from the VCF “which are not related to the purpose for which it was established.’’
The records showed that of the P5,503,766.63, P2.6 million went to honoraria expenses of those involved in the implementation of the VCF, P1.86 million for salaries of BOC contractual employees, P813,311.64 for the purchase of various office supplies, and P65,273.28 for the purchase of one computer and P88,872 for miscellaneous expenses.
“The fund is being utilized for salaries of BOC contractual employees, honoraria of those involved in the implementation of Victims Compensation Program, supplies, miscellaneous expenses and etc and not for the purpose of the program, which is for the compensation of the victims of violent crimes,” CoA said in its report.
“The management has no reason to maintain/hold the collections. More so, to use it for other purposes…”CoA said.
It further pointed that there is no need to hold on to the VCF balance since the national government provides a yearly appropriations for the operational requirements of the BoC and settlement of claims of the victims.
Also, CoA said the VCF receives one percent earning of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation as well as P5 for every filing fee in every civil cases filed in all courts nationwide.