Capitol told to return P41.74M unspent PDAF

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Audit has advised the Cebu provincial government to return to the national treasury the P41.74 unspent Priority Development Fund (PDAF) or congressional pork barrel.

The audit body also advised Capitol to seek clarification from the Supreme Court on whether or not the P41.74 million unspent funds should be returned to the national treasury.

“We also recommend that management hasten the filing of its Motion for Clarification before the Supreme Court to avoid eventual disallowance of the disbursements in question,” read COA’s annual audit report on Capitol’s financial statements submitted for 2017.

But Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega said the Capitol can still use the unutilized funds, which have already been downloaded to the provincial government before pork barrel funds were abolished in 2013.

The SC en banc declared PDAF unconstitutional five years ago.

The pork barrel has been met with public outrage following COA special report citing gross misuse of lawmakers' funds.

The Department of Justice, tracing the COA report, has filed plunder charges against several lawmakers alleged to be involved in the PDAF scam believed to be masterminded by detained businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

The scam involved the funneling of pork barrel funds to bogus non-government organizations.

COA, in its report, said the PDAF amounting to P41.74 million has not yet been used for its intended purposes.

“The non-reversion of the funds of the National Treasure deprived the National Government of much needed funds to finance its other priority projects. The unutilized amounts had been aging to over ten years,” the report read.

COA asked Governor Hilario Davide III to direct his provincial treasurer to remit the funds back to the national treasury pursuant to SC decision.

Ortega, however, disagreed with COA’s request.

He explained that the funds were no longer part of the special allotment release order (SARO), thus they were not covered by the SC ruling.

This means that the downloaded pork barrel funds from 2006 to 2013 can still be utilized and disbursed by the provincial government, he said.

The biggest chunk of the P41.74 million PDAF was for the financial assistance for six towns amounting to P9 million. It was sourced from former Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

It was followed by the P8.4 million in financial aid for indigent and senior citizens. The amount was taken from the PDAF of former House deputy speaker Pablo “Pabling” Garcia. (FREEMAN)