WHY splurge P200 million on chickens and hotdogs for giveaways but spend only P55 million on infrastructure projects?
The Commission on Audit raised this question with the provincial government of Pampanga after a team of auditors discovered that for every peso spent on public works projects last year, the province shelled out four on jumbo hotdogs and frozen chicken.
Auditors found the province bought 500,000 one-kilogram packs of frozen jumbo hotdogs from Mekeni Food Corporation totaling P70.75 million and 500,000 packs of frozen whole chicken from MOR Enterprises for P129.25 million.
Based on four checks submitted to the audit team, the payments were all made in December 2021.
The chickens and hotdogs were reportedly given away for free to “various sectoral groups” under the Needy Kapampangan Program.
Officials informed the COA that the program “aims to remember those who truly need help especially during Christmas time.”
Based on audit records, the provincial government has coughed up P577.87 million for the Needy Kapampangan Program in the last five years although it was not made clear if the sum all went to hotdogs and chickens.
The breakdown showed P57.33 million in 2017, P87.745 million in 2018, P77.56 million in 2019, P155.23 million in 2020, and P200 million in 2021.
Over the same five year period, auditors noted that the province implemented 54 infrastructure projects totaling P370.89 million of which P55.115 million were paid in 2021.
“Thus, expenses incurred in CY 2021 for the Needy Kapampangan Program were 262.88 percent higher than expenditures incurred for infrastructure projects in the same year,” the COA pointed out. “Also, the total amount spent for the Needy Kapampangan Program reached over half a billion pesos for the past five years. This amount could have been programmed for tangible projects that would alleviate the lives of its targeted beneficiaries,” it added.
Auditors likewise questioned the absence of proof that the chickens and hotdogs really went to the poor families as intended since neither list of recipient households nor the criteria for their selection were submitted.
Instead, the contract between the suppliers and the trucking companies that made the deliveries were handed to the audit team.
“Audit showed that the program was not sufficiently documented to prove validity and propriety of claims.
There was no distribution list submitted to account for the total goods delivered. This may result in poor monitoring and the possibility that not all targeted beneficiaries gained from the program,” the COA warned.
The commission recommended that the provincial government invest its resources on “other programs and projects that will have an impact and longer benefits to the general public” compared to giving them treats once a year.
“We find it more appropriate if budget for other areas such as education, infrastructures, and health be given priority as well. Also, programs that will increase and promote job opportunities and livelihood program could also be facilitated to help those affected by various lay-offs during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the COA said.
It pointed out that the chicken and hotdog giveaways do not benefit the “middle income taxpayers who continue to struggle for their own subsistence and were the most heavily affected by the pandemic.”
The provincial management reacted that the audit recommendation was “positively taken …especially on the disbursement of funds for more concrete programs.”
