A lawmaker on Thursday asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a special audit on all financial transactions using the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which includes government spending as well as foreign loans, grants and bonds related to the Covid-19 response.
Citing reports, ACT-CIS Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo, a member of the Social Services Committee of the House of Representatives, said the Department of Finance (DOF) secured $7.76 billion in foreign funds and that $5.11 billion of that total has been disbursed.
“I ask the Commission on Audit to urgently conduct a special audit of all the Bayanihan Act spending and of Covid-19 foreign loans, grants and bonds. We want to be sure that all these funds were, are and will be judiciously and properly spent for intended purposes,” Tulfo said.
“The COA audit should start very soon. Time is of the essence because very soon the budget hearings for 2021 budget will get underway and because the Bayanihan Act II is pending in Congress now,” she added.
Data from the DOF showed that $7.63 billion (about P379.44 billion) in budgetary support financing was already raised as of July 1. This includes the issuance of $2.35 billion dollar-denominated global bonds. Of the $7.63-billion budgetary support financing, $5.11 billion (P254.12 billion) has been disbursed to the government, the data cited by Tulfo said.
“The people and Congress must know all the details of these foreign loans, grants, and bonds and whether they were spent properly. The COA is the constitutional body with the specific mandate on this matter,” the lawmaker added.
Tulfo said that the figures given by Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque tallied with what the DOF has disclosed.
“Secretary Roque said $5.8 billion but what the DOF has said is $7.8 billion,” she explained. “Perhaps, …Roque should leave specialized topics to the real experts. A gap of two billion dollars is too wide to be considered a lapse or simple mistake.”
Tulfo also asked the COA to look into how the P275 billion are being used as Covid-19 relief under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Republic Act 11469).
“The COA must also sift through and leave no stone unturned as regards all the funds authorized under the Bayanihan Act. The details of these funds are known only to a few in the DOF, DBM [Department of Budget and Management] and disbursing agencies,” she said.
“Outside of them, no one knows the complete picture and the nuts and bolts. This cannot be as a matter of transparency and full disclosure,” Tulfo added.