Thank you and padayon, COA

The public deserves to know and understand how public funds, especially for waste and COVID-19, have been spent and allocated for the previous years and at present. Gratefully, the Commission on Audit (COA) has made public its Annual Audit Report on the City of Cebu for the year ended December 31, 2020.

The COA report mentioned that “unsettled suspensions and disallowances amounted to P67,656,992.31 and P845,574,748.04, respectively, as of December 31, 2020.”

Of interest, these are four important highlights about solid waste management (SWM) mentioned in Part III: Status of Implementation of Prior Years’ Unimplemented Audit Recommendations of the COA 2020 REPORT:

“#32 on Mandatory Segregation: COA observed that continued non-implementation of the Mandatory Segregation of Solid Wastes deprived the city of the supposed savings from the costly disposal of unsegregated solid wastes and recommended a) the implementation of SWM ordinances in consonance with City Ordinance No. 2031 which supports mandatory segregation of solid wastes pursuant to RA 9003, b) organization of massive info drive on the importance of garbage segregation in different areas including business establishments, and c) coordinate with OIC of CENRO to strengthen enforcement of sanctions, fines and penalties under CO 2031.

#47. COA observed that the city did not implement the projects intended for the MRF Program amounting to P55M granted by DILG , thus the assistance has been unutilized for the past 4 years , depriving the constituents of the benefits that could have been derived. COA noted that as of December 31, 2020, the balance of unutilized amount received from DILG intended for the MRF is still P53,130,190.00.

#50. The City did not impose the establishment of a MRF in its barangays, thus waste collection, sorting, segregating, composting and recycling at barangay level not implemented; and,

#51. The city’s 10 year SWM Plan did not bear the approval of the National SWM Commission as required by RA 9003 and was not fully updated.”

COA also shared these significant COVID-related observations:

1. The distribution of Emergency Subsidy Program through the Social Amelioration Program to the 80 barangays of the City of Cebu amounting to P836,892,000 included 632 beneficiaries who received a total of P13,792,000.00 but were not eligible for the program, contrary to pertinent provisions of the Department of Social Welfare and Development Memorandum Circular No. 09, series of 2020 or the Omnibus Guidelines in the Implementation of the ESP.

2. Several purchases of rice for COVID-19 relief operations totaling P67,376,600.00 were awarded to unqualified suppliers contrary to Section 3.3 of Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular No. 01-2020 dated April 6, 2020, thus negotiation of the most advantageous price may not have been achieved, prejudicing the interest of the government.

3. Procurement of 20,000 pieces KN95 mask amounting to P4,380,000.00 was in excess of the maximum retail price set under the Department of Health (DOH) Memorandum No. 2030-0144-1 dated April 14, 2020, thus incurring excessive expenses of P340,000.00.

4. Various documentary requirements and procedures were not followed in the procurement of 1,670 boxes of Rapid Anti-body test kits totaling P42,585,000.00 contrary to GPPB Circular 01-2020 dated April 6, 2020, thus negotiation under the said emergency procurement modality may not be achieved.

5. The City did not submit and re the Summary/List of Donations Received, Distributed and Balance and its supporting documents, as well as the required one-time report for cash and in-kind donations contrary to Commission on Audit Circular No. 2020009 dated April 21, 2020,.

6. The City granted COVID-19 Special Risk Allowance (SRA) amounting to P11,503,804.38 to non-Public Health Workers (PHWs) as defined under the Department of Budget and Management (DEM) Budget Circular 2020-2 dated April 7, 2020, resulting in the irregular disbursement of government funds.”

Review COA report for more details.