COA tells LGUs: Plan projects carefully before implementation

THE COMMISSION on Audit (COA) advised offices to plan carefully before initiating projects.

The government auditors noted that the distribution of disaster cards in Davao City was put on hold during the verification last February due to the national ID system.

Based on records of COA, the project was part of the P265,205,881.50 funding of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management (LDRRM) prevention and mitigation projects and activities. The project alone has a budget allocation of P 16,855,881.50 implemented by the Davao City Social Services and Development Office.

In its 2018 report, the COA said that upon their review of the utilization of LDRRM, “the fund allocated for the disaster preparedness projects and activities for CY 2018 was not utilized. This implies that the planned projects and activities were not implemented within the year.”

The implementation schedule of the disaster card, which aims to improve the disaster relief

operation when it comes to distribution to the intended beneficiaries, was from July to December 2018.

However, it was reportedly stopped when the government pursued the establishment of national ID system in the Philippines.

In a recent interview with TIMES, Alfredo D. Baloran, OIC of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they didn’t stop the project at all.

“We continued it but there are some changes. The disaster card will be aligned with the national ID,” Baloran said.

He said it is still important for every household to obtain a disaster card to easily determine families living in the disaster prone areas. Based on the 2015 Census of Population of the Philippine Statistic Authority XI, there are about 409,951 households in Davao City.