COA orders Marikina, Pasig to use PDAF

MANILA, Philippines - While other government agencies are being criticized for misusing pork barrel funds, two cities are being told to actually make use of the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) they have been receiving from lawmakers.

Records show that millions of pesos in public funds remain unutilized since their release or allocation to the local government units (LGUs) as far back as 2008.

In separate COA reports released yesterday, state auditors called on the city governments of Marikina and Pasig to make full use of the pork barrel funds they were given for the implementation of various projects and programs.

State auditors found that from the balance of P9.6 million PDAF allocated to Marikina from 2009 to 2012, P2.3 million was not “fully implemented or utilized.”

The COA also noted that Marikina was “not able to implement or utilize at all” a total of P17.5 million in PDAF for projects granted from 2009 to 2012.

State auditors noted that more programs and or projects could have been extended to the constituents of locality had the PDAF been fully utilized and used as intended.

COA had similar findings for the city government of Pasig after learning that it has unutilized PDAF of P36.826 million as of Dec. 31, 2012.

“We were informed that discussions with concerned city officials will still be undertaken for the utilization of this balance,” the audit report for Pasig said.