P10M aid for NGOs unutilized

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government has not spent a single centavo of the P10-million allocation for financial aid intended for non-government and people’s organizations every year because of the stiff requirements to disburse the fund.

City treasurer Diwa Cuevas said the city government has not released financial assistance to NGOs and POs for two consecutive years already.

Cuevas said that the different organizations are struggling to get an accreditation from the city government because of the stringent requirements following the pork barrel scandal.

“Ma-discourage og apply because sa kalisod sa mga requirements. And, kinahanglan dunay proper liquidation and should be audited by independent CPA,” she said.

 This was echoed by Dr. Letty Canoy, who appeared before the City Council du-ring an executive session last Friday to represent an NGO.

 A recent Commission on Audit report cited failure of recipient NGOs and POs to liquidate P76 million worth of financial assistance from 2006 to 2012.

Last year, NGOs and POs did not also get the P10-million financial aid because a new guideline was set by the Department of Budget and Management-7 on the utilization of the Local Development Fund, which excludes financial assistance to NGOs and POs development projects.

 DBM-7 Director Carmela Fernan has reminded the city government to be circumspect in granting financial assistance, aid, subsidies, and the like to different NGOs and POs.

 Based on the guidelines, NGOs and POs are required to secure Certificate of Registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission and/or Cooperative Development Authority. These organizations which are already operating should submit annual accomplishment reports and audited financial reports for the last two years to determine capability to sustain operations.

One requirement is a certification of good standing from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, the new applicants are required to submit certification of good standing from Cooperative Development Authority and annual accomplishment reports.

NGOs and POs seeking accreditation should also have existed for at least three years in Cebu from the date of incorporation.

They must also submit a financial statement with net asset of P20,000 or less must be signed by the treasurer, then duly approved by the internal auditor and must be duly notarized. For groups with more than the said amount, they must be audited by an independent certified public accountant.

 The office of Councilor Sisinio Andales was tasked to review the guidelines since the same office accredits beneficiary groups, which would take 10 months to get an accreditation from the city government.

The city is only accepting a maximum of 56 NGOs and POs for a three-term period to avail of a financial assistance of not more than P500,000 in an allocation of P10 million annually.

The organization would have to shell out a 10-percent counterpart, depending on its financial assets.

Moreover, Councilor Margarita Osmeña suggested increasing the financial assistance granted to NGOs and POs, pointing out the significant increase in the annual budget.

“It’s not fair. Our budget has been increasing for billion but the aid for NGOs and POs stays at P10 million per annum. Why not increase P20 million, P30 million or even P50 million?” Osmeña asked.

Cuevas said it is not feasible since the P10-million allocation was not even utilized.

“Wala man ni- avail sa aid so dili pwede ma-increase. It’s hard to justify the increase if the account is not being used kay liable pud ta ana sa COA and DBM,” she said. (FREEMAN)