MANILA, Philippines – Local government units (LGUs) that consistently fail to liquidate funds may soon stop receiving budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) feeding program.

DSWD officer-in-charge Emmanuel Leyco said that several LGUs have missed their responsibility to liquidate the funds for the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) in the past 6 years. 

SFP is the DSWD program that provides hot meals for children in day care centers. The program faced a P1 billion cut in the proposed budget for 2018, potentially affecting some 1.7 million child beneficiaries. (READ: Can P16 a day save PH kids from malnutrition?) 

The unliquidated funds reached P15.586 billion as of December 31, 2016. Leyco said P7.643 billion of this have been settled as of June this year. 

They are again urging LGUs to rectify the administrative issue so that the program will continue in their areas. 

During the budget hearing in the Senate, Leyco said that the agency continuously reminds LGUs of their liquidation reports but these calls simply “fall on deaf ears.” 

“We really have to correct this weakness on the part of the LGU because the DSWD cannot release more funds to them to ensure the continued implementation  of our programs at the ground level so long as the LGUs do not liquidate,” he said. 

“It is our intended beneficiaries that suffer as they are denied the assistance our programs seek to provide them,” he added. (READ: 1 in 3 Filipino kids still malnourished, stunted – study)

Major cities like Manila and Cebu top the list of 10 LGUs with the largest share of the unliquidated budget.

• Manila City – P47.5 million 
• Cebu City – P23.4 million 
• Iligan City- P20.5 million
• Taguig City – P17.6 million 
• Cagayan de Oro City – P16.9 million 
• Puerto Prinsesa- P11.6 million 
• Ayungon, Negros Oriental – P10.9 million 
• Iloilo City- P9.9 million 
• Antipolo – P9.7 million 
• Zamboanga City- P8.5 million 

Meanwhile, Visayas LGUs top the regions in terms of the highest amount of aging liquidation dues.   

• Eastern Visayas – P2.4 billion
• Western Visayas – P1.26 billion
• Central Visayas  – P1.1 billion
• Northern Mindanao – P385.4 million 
• Davao Region – P370.4 million
• CALABARZON – P359.1 million
• CAR – P301.3 million
• Ilocos Region – P296.7 million
• MIMAROPA – P281.7 million
• Bicol Region – P277.4 million
• South-Central Mindanao – P210.6 million
• Central Luzon – P171.7 million
• Cagayan Valley – P164.2 million 
• Zamboanga Peninsula – P161.4 million 
• Metro Manila – P114 million 
• CARAGA – P43.3 million 

The DSWD recently met with the Department of Interior and Local Government to help LGUs settle their dues efficiently. 

“We hope that this habit of non-submission of liquidation reports will stop and that our LGUs be more prompt in settling their accounts. What we want is a system that is faster and more efficient so that our programs will not be disrupted and we can continue to help more people through them,” said Leyco. – Rappler.com