ANAKALUSUGAN Partylist Representative and Quezon City mayoral candidate Mike Defensor said on Friday he is willing to resign as a lawmaker if the Commission on Audit (COA) report questioning the validity of the city’s pandemic food pack procurements is “fake news,” as city hall claims.
He said he is standing by his statement on COA’s adverse findings on the use by the city government of P479 million given by the national government in 2020 as Covid-19 pandemic financial assistance.
“If Mayor Joy Belmonte can prove that it is fake news, then I am willing to resign as a member of Congress. If she cannot, then she should resign,” said the representative of health advocacy group Anakalusugan.
Defensor urged Quezon City residents and any interested citizen to visit the COA website (coa.gov.ph, then click annual reports, 2020, local government units, national capital region, Quezon City) for the report.
“You can check for yourself who is lying,” he said.
He said he is even willing to publish the relevant portion of the document “in the newspaper the Belmontes have reportedly sold to the PLDT Group but which they continue to use against me, as a paid advertisement if they will accept it.”
He quoted the report: “Payments for relief goods totaling P479.120 million sourced from Bayanihan grant to cities and municipalities were not supported with complete documentation contrary to Section 4 (6) of Presidential Decree No. 1445, and Item No. 3.6 of Government Procurement Policy Board Circular No. 01-2020 dated April 6, 2020.”
“Likewise, the posting and reporting requirements under Item Nos. 4.1 and 4.4 of Local Budget Circular No. 125 dated April 7, 2020, were not complied with. Thus, the validity and regularity of the transactions cannot be ascertained,” the COA report stated.
The report showed that of the P479 million, the city government spent P385 million on food packs, P84.7 million on rice and plastic bags, and P9.4 million on noodles.
Auditors identified four documents that were lacking: updated procurement plan; proof of online posting of notice of award, contract or purchase order, copy of notice to the Department of Budget and Management, House of Representatives and Senate; and details of the quantity received by each beneficiary of food aid.
At the time auditors wrote their report, the updated procurement plan, notice of online posting of award, contract or purchase order, and food pack distribution details had not been submitted.
Defensor has claimed that the city government has overpriced food packs by as much as 45 percent or P514 resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions in taxpayers’ money.
He said the grocery packages were priced at P1,149.98 each. However, a canvass made his his staff showed that these could be bought only at P636 per pack.
Meanwhile, Belmonte’s camp has already denied the allegations.