COA reports P49M unused anti-poverty fund from Pagcor

MANILA, Philippines — The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) has not used P49 million out of the P50 million financial assistance it received from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) in 2017, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.

In an audit report released last May 23, COA said that the NAPC used only P969,479.50 for the socio-civic programs the fund was intended for.

“Funds received from Pagcor as financial assistance for the socio-civic programs and projects of NAPC, recorded under the account due to GOCCs amounting to P49,030,520.50, remained unutilized as of December 31, 2018; thus, depriving the intended beneficiaries and the public of the benefits that could have been derived from the project,” COA noted.

The commission explained that under the memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed by the NAPC and Pagcor on April 5, 2017, the latter will provide a P50-million grant to the agency.

The fund, which was turned over to NAPC on the same day the two government offices signed the MOA, was primarily for socio-civic projects, including improving education in Mindanao, providing sustainable livelihood projects in Luzon in Mindanao, and developing coconut enterprises in the Visayas.

Under the MOA, NAPC projects will start 30 days after the contract signing and end two years later on April 4, 2019. All unused funds or portions of projects not completed during the period
will be returned to Pagcor, which will continue the programs.

COA said the projects were not pursued after NAPC, then under former Lead Convenor Liza Maza, directed its Administrative and Financial Management Service (AFMS) to stop disbursing funds from Pagcor’s grant in January 2018.

This was due to Pagcor’s instruction regarding their plan to audit financial assistance.

No further instruction in relation to the disbursement of the fund was given, and there was also no information from Pagcor about the results of its audit and whether the proposed programs would continue.

INQUIRER.net tried to get the side of Maza and Pagcor, but both have not responded as of posting time.

NAPC officials have agreed with the COA’s suggestion to ask Pagcor to extend the validity of the MOA.

“We recommended, and management agreed to make representations with Pagcor and request the possible extension of the validity of the MOA, and if Pagcor denies the request, direct the accountant to return the unutilized amount,” COA noted. (Editor: Eden Estopace)

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