COA: Negros Oriental gov’t officials’ service vehicles bought using disaster funds

The Commission on Audit (COA) found that the provincial government of Negros Oriental spent P5.67 million out of its Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF) to buy vehicles used by local politicians. 

In its 2019 audit report released on July 22, COA said an analysis of trip tickets of two Montero Sport SUVs and a Mitsubishi Strada pickup showed that they were being used as service vehicles of local government officials, including the governor and a municipal mayor.

State auditors said the usage goes against a memorandum released by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which states that vehicles and equipment purchased using the LDRRMF must be “exclusively for rescue and emergency response activities.” 

COA also cited Budget Circular No. 2017-1 of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which specifies that vehicles purchased using disaster funds should be “multipurpose vehicles with rescue equipment and apparatus on board, pickup trucks with the same provisions, or motorcycles.”

“Clearly the types of vehicles purchased out of the LDRRMF did not conform to the allowable vehicles that could be used for immediate disaster response and rescue/relief operations,” the commission said.

But the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that activities related to disaster prevention, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation are part of the mandate of local government officials. 

While that is possible, COA said, using vehicles purchased with disaster funds remains “questionable.”

“What we considered inappropriate…was the charging of the costs of the service vehicles against the LDRRMF since the same are not prescribed vehicles under the existing DBM guidelines that could be used for immediate disaster response and rescue/relief operations,” COA said. – Rappler.com