40% of OVP budget for poor unspent

Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo by OVP)

Vice President Leni Robredo spent only about 60 percent of the budget that was given to her office in 2016 to help poor Filipinos, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported.

In its annual audit report for 2016, COA said Robredo spent only P130.7 million of her P220 million financial assistance budget.

The COA said the underspending led to “undelivered services.”

In the second half of 2016, COA said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) extended medical and burial aid to 10,892 beneficiaries.

Robredo’s staff blamed the underspending on several factors, like manpower shortage and technical requirements.

They said indigents in provinces would need to travel long distances to apply for aid at the OVP.

But COA also noted that low absorptive capacity was not unique to the OVP.