THE Commission on Audit (COA) flagged control and documentation deficiencies in the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) relief operations in 2025 involving nearly P168 million in welfare funds.
In its 2025 consolidated audit report on the government’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, COA noted inconsistencies in situational reports, deviations from approved mission orders, open-ended mission orders, and deficiencies in beneficiary and distribution records.
COA said weaknesses in the OVP’s records and procedures made it more difficult to establish if the distributions were fully, reliably, and properly documented.
The deficiencies also raised questions on how the agency planned its relief missions, documented adjustments made in the field, and established recipients of the government aid, the COA said.
Among the findings were discrepancies in situational reports covering P19.67 million worth of welfare goods. Reports prepared by the OVP did not match those prepared by concerned government agencies and local government units, particularly in the number of affected families or beneficiaries.
COA also flagged 24 relief operations involving P39.01 million worth of welfare goods in which changes to schedules, distribution sites, quantities of relief items and the amount of rice to be distributed were made without documented approval.
While the OVP attributed the changes to evolving conditions on the ground, COA said supporting documents for the revisions were not consistently attached, weakening assurance that the changes were properly authorized and supported.
Another finding involved eight mission orders covering P84.12 million in relief distributions that did not identify specific target beneficiaries.
COA said the absence of defined beneficiary targets weakened the basis for determining the quantities of relief goods to be requested and distributed.
Auditors also found deficiencies in beneficiary and distribution records, including uncertified master lists, unsigned relief distribution sheets, duplicate entries, and incomplete beneficiary information.
COA said some relief operations involving more than 200 beneficiaries used documentary requirements intended for the OVP’s Relief for Indigents and Individuals in Crisis and Emergencies program instead of those prescribed under COA’s Disaster Operations Policy Manual.
The audit agency said the use of different documentary requirements resulted in inconsistent application of established procedures and reduced assurance over the completeness, reliability and verifiability of the programs and the propriety of the relief distributions.
COA recommended that the OVP strengthen its review procedures for relief operations and clearly define the scope and coverage of mission orders.
Duterte, in one of the articles of impeachment filed against her, was accused of irregularities in the use of intelligence and confidential funds of the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as education secretary from 2022 to 2024./ TPM