PDAF funds for Batanes heritage project not idle – Rep Abad

MANILA, Philippines – The 2013 Commission on Audit (COA) report which said Batanes still has idle funds meant for environmental and heritage projects did not reflect latest liquidation reports, Batanes lone district Representative Henedina Abad said.

In a statement sent to Rappler Thursday, September 25, Abad clarified that the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) releases from her office amounted to P8.25 million, ($184,430.58)* and not P8.75 million ($195,621.14) as reported by COA. (READ: Batanes sitting on idle cash – COA)

The releases, which the province received in two tranches in 2011 and 2012, were allocated for natural and cultural projects under the Batanes Heritage Foundation, Inc (BHFI).

Citing the foundation, Abad said P6.76 million ($151,147.50) of the release had already been utilized and liquidated as of July 28, 2014. The COA report said only P500,000 ($11,179.55) has been utilized and liquidated as of December 31, 2013.

Abad said the rest of the allocation worth P1.49 million ($33,314.78) will be used to revive traditional Ivatan performances. The goal of the project is to preserve Batanes’ rich cultural heritage; one initiative is to document traditional music performances and distribute them to schools for educational and cultural purposes.

Abad said that while her office endorsed the project, the funds were released to the provincial government of Batanes and downloaded to BHFI for the project implementation.

“The foundation has a long track record in implementing cultural and heritage projects that serve the people of Batanes, and they’ve always been very efficient and transparent in carrying out their work,” she added.

But in the COA report, the provincial government supposedly told auditors that what prevented them from utilizing the PDAF allocation in full were “setbacks that warranted a temporary suspension” of the project.

Not funded by PDAF, DAP

The same COA report also noted that only P3.3 million ($73,784.40) has been used out of a total of P25 million ($558,988.47) allocated by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for the development of an Ecological Solid Waste Management System and Materials Recovery Facility for the island municipalities of Sabtang and Itbayat.

Even though EMB was one of the agencies that received funds from the administration’s controversial Disbursement Accelerated Program (DAP), Abad clarified that neither of the two projects was funded through the PDAF nor the DAP.

“The solid waste management MRF project is under the provincial government of Batanes. The Provincial Capitol is therefore in the best position to comment on the unspent funds and the status of the project’s implementation,” she added.

Representative Abad is the wife of Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, who defended the administration-backed DAP as a program designed to ramp up spending and help accelerate economic growth. 

The Supreme Court already ruled the PDAF of lawmakers, as well as 3 schemes under the DAP unconstitutional. – Rappler.com

*US$1 : 44.73