DSWD use of P1.8-B disaster fund questioned

Roughly P1.85 billion in disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) funds allocated to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) was beset by very poor liquidation, unreli- able recording and irregularities in its release to beneficiaries in 2017.

In its 2017 Report on the Audit of the DRRM Fund, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the liquidation of P1.49 billion in emergency shelter assistance for victims of Typhoon “Nina” (international name: Nock-ten) in 2016 was “very poor” as of end-2017.

This indicated “too much delay” in the cash distribution.

Unreliable inventory record

The COA also questioned the unreliable recording of inventory items totaling P301.29 million due to lack of appropri- ate documentation and unreconciled discrepancies.

The Northern Mindanao field office accounted for bulk of this amount. A total of P201.74 million in welfare goods was not supported with supplies ledger cards, stock cards and physical count reports.

The general ledger also showed the goods were not distributed for the year of 2017.

Some P37.93 million worth of welfare goods was not supported by appropriate transfer documents and not acknowledged as received by the concerned agencies.

In the Office of the Secretary, auditors found a P19.37-million discrepancy in the amount of welfare goods recorded in the stock card and the supplies ledger card.

Auditors said the discrepancy must be immediately investigated so either record could be corrected.