Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 14) – The Office of the Ombudsman is urging the Commission on Audit (COA) to file a case against the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) over the non-release of the state auditor’s ₱173-million 2020 budget.
“If I were in the place of COA chair [Michael] Aguinaldo, I would have filed a case against the DBM secretary or any personnel involved in the non-release of ₱173 million,” said Ombudsman Samuel Martires during the Senate’s deliberation on the 2021 budget of the Office of the Ombudsman and COA.
The amount was supposed to fund COA’s capital outlay but was among the public funds realigned to strengthen the government’s COVID-19 response.
Under the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, the President is authorized to realign funds from different agencies for additional funding for the fight against the pandemic.
According to Martires, the discontinuance of COA’s funding could amount to an act of graft.
“It created an undue injury not only to the agency but to the Filipino people…If it will affect the work of the Commission on Audit, the DBM is liable for that,” Martires said
During the interpellation during the COA and Ombudsman’s budget deliberations, Senator Panfilo Lacson raised the point that what the DBM did was “a violation of fiscal autonomy under the Constitution.”
COA Chief Michael Aguinaldo earlier admitted that they have given up the appropriation, considering the difficulties the government was having with funding in view of the pandemic.
But in a text message to CNN Philippines, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the ₱173 million is still available and was not included as part of pooled savings under Bayanihan 1.
The amount was supposed to finance the following COA projects:
– Provincial satellite auditing offices worth P90 million;
– Land improvements for two regional offices worth P20 million;
– Purchase of four motor vehicles worth P13 million;
– Travelling expenses worth P50million.
The amount is a Congress-introduced adjustment and classified for later release. Avisado said that such budget changes are subject to the approval of the President.
However, Martires said, by doing this, the DBM gravely abused its discretion and depriving COA of its appropriation could cause undue injury to the people that it serves.
Lacson agreed that while this could be a generous act on the part of Aguinaldo, it could also serve as a precedent for future issuances by the DBM.
The Office of the Ombudsman also slammed the DBM for reducing its proposed 2021 budget to ₱3.36 billion which is ₱742 million lower than its ₱4.1-billion 2020 budget.
