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Lawmaker sees P120 billion missing from DPWH funds
09/26/2008 | 04:09 PM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros called for a congressional investigation into the Department of Public Workers and Highways’ (DPWH) budget as she expressed concern that about P120 billion in the funds of the department could be missing.

Citing a 2007 report of the Commission on Audit (COA), Hontiveros said the DPWH budget reeks with patong and bukol, terms that have made it to the Philippine vocabulary of graft and corruption during the investigation of the ZTE broadband scandal involving President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and a number of her officials.

"Based on COA's report, several DPWH accounts have been overstated. In contemporary corruption parlance, 'overstatement' is actually equivalent to 'patong' and 'bukol'. Nakakapangilabot na ang ganito kalaking pondo ay mukhang nawawala," Rep. Hontiveros said.

"This is exactly the reason why people think that DPWH is one of the most corrupt government agencies," Hontiveros said.

She said the missing funds should be enough to keep the Office of the Ombudsman busy in the next five years.

In her questions during the DPWH budget hearing, she highlighted three accounts where the bulk of the missing funds is concentrated.

"The biggest patong is in the Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) account, which was overstated by P64.7 billion. According to COA, there are unsubstantiated, unsupported, and erroneous reporting in the procurement and purchase of items under this account," Hontiveros said.

"The second highest is in the Account Payables (AP) account, which was overstated by P53 billion or 73% of the reported liabilities of DPWH. This account lists obligations and indebtedness to contractors and suppliers," Hontiveros added. "We have to check if the transaction under this account are legal and if these contractors and suppliers that benefited from these transactions are legitimate."

She said that about P249 million of funds transferred to national government agencies and local government units remain unliquidated.

"Under COA's Circular No. 94-013, reporting by implementing agencies should be done monthly during the project duration, with all accountable officers submitting supporting vouchers, payroll, and other relevant documents monthly. There shouldn't be any excuses at all why these disbursed funds have not been liquidated yet," she said.

Hontiveros said that DPWH Sec. Hermogenes Ebdane promised that a written reply to her questions would be provided prior to the plenary debates for DPWH's budget. However, she said that she will move for the deferment of the budget's approval should the department fail to submit a satisfactory reply. - GMANews.TV

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