COA chides Laguna officials for putting funds in time deposit

Provincial officials of Laguna took a scolding from the Commission on Audit (COA) for placing in time deposit some P169 million in funds that should have been spent to fund priority projects.

COA auditors chided Laguna officials, led by Governor Ramil Hernandez, for trying to conserve supposed idle funds but in the process “hampered the implementation of priority programs/projects” as mandated under the Local Government Code and “deprived the intended beneficiaries of the benefits thereto.”

In its value-for-money audit, COA noted that some P179,840,577 worth of hospital equipment remained idle or unutilized while P223 million other medical items “were not frequently used in 2014.”

These, COA said, “defeats the purpose for which they were acquired, delays the provision of valuable and improved health care services to the general public” and may damage the equipment due to “nonperformance of functions.”

Furthermore, COA warned that PhilHealth benefits may be reduced if the hospital’s category was downgraded due to inefficiency on the part of hospital management and personnel of the nine medical institutions operated by Laguna province.

Audit examiners also pointed out in the recently-released 2014 annual audit report for Laguna that interests income from the time deposits “were not taken up in the books of the “Special Education Fund” and “General Fund” from where the bank savings were sourced.

On the other hand, Laguna officials were unable to impose “legal actions/ remedies” against contractor with expired contracts and were unable to complete contracts despite their receipt of advance payments and mobilization costs.

State auditors asked the provincial governor to require the provincial engineer to immediately submit an evaluation report of unfinished projects and direct the provincial legal office to pursue legal action against erring contractors.