By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President (OVP) is facing fresh scrutiny after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged documentation deficiencies and inconsistencies involving disaster relief operations funded with nearly ₱168 million in public money last year.
The findings were detailed in the 273-page COA report on the 2025 Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, submitted on Aug. 28 to Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., who concurrently chairs the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
COA auditors identified several issues involving the OVP’s relief operations, including inconsistencies between its situational reports and those submitted by concerned government agencies and local government units (LGUs).
The discrepancies involved relief activities worth ₱19.67 million, according to the audit report.
Auditors also found that 24 relief operations worth about ₱39 million deviated from their approved mission orders without documented approval.
Another ₱84.1 million in relief distributions was covered by eight mission orders that did not identify specific target beneficiaries and merely directed the turnover of goods to affected or displaced families.
The audit also raised concerns over beneficiary documentation and relief distribution records.
Required documents for operations involving funds totaling about ₱25.2 million were either incomplete or not submitted, COA said.
“These deficiencies reduced assurance on the completeness, reliability, and verifiability of relief distribution records and weakened controls over relief operations,” the auditors said.
COA also found discrepancies between OVP situational reports and those prepared by LGUs concerning the number of families affected by calamities.
The number of affected families was used as a basis for determining relief distributions.
According to the auditors, the discrepancies diminished the reliability of the situational reports, which are also used in planning relief operations and preparing mission orders.
The 24 relief operations that deviated from approved mission orders involved changes in schedules, distribution sites, quantities of relief items and the amount of rice distributed.
The OVP explained that the adjustments were necessary because of changing conditions in the field.
However, COA noted that the absence of documented approvals weakened assurance that the changes had been properly authorized and supported.
The auditors also flagged eight mission orders covering relief goods worth ₱84,118,147.06 because they did not specify the intended beneficiaries.
Instead, the orders simply directed the distribution of goods to affected or displaced families.
Further deficiencies were found in relief operations involving 33,980 beneficiaries and goods worth approximately ₱25.3 million.
COA said these operations lacked required pre-operation documents, including situational reports, mission orders and verified master lists.
The OVP, according to the audit report, cited the need for operational flexibility during emergencies as an explanation for some of the documentation gaps.
In one case, a required relief distribution sheet was unavailable after records were reportedly lost during Typhoon Kristine (Trami).
The missing document was subsequently replaced with explanatory and certification documents, according to the audit report.
ia/xf
