City’s Total Project Costs Exceed 20% of IRA

While the Cebu City government failed to implement all infrastructure projects worth P875.9 million that will be charged against the Local Development Fund (LDF) for 2012, the overall costs of its implemented projects is over the required 20 percent of the Internal Revenue Allotment received by the city from the national government.

The Commission on Audit (COA) in its annual audit report that was submitted to the office of Mayor Michael Rama, believed that the P875,966,546 was the 20 percent of the IRA, which according to law will be allocated to the Local Development Fund for any development projects.

But according to a reliable source at the City Treasurer’s Office who requested anonymity, the city’s IRA last year was only a little over P1 billion, meaning that the 20 percent for LDF should be only P200 million.

COA admitted that the financial records of the Cebu City government shows that the city had already spent P407.5 million for the various local development projects.

The source explained that the city may spend all the IRA funds that it received from the national government for infrastructure projects, but because the city also needed the other amount for some other projects, the city officials have decided not to implement the other approved projects.

In another COA finding of the city’s financial transactions, the state auditors found out that the city had failed to immediately implement the supplementary feeding program funded by the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development in 2011.

While the P10.2-million budget had been released by the national government in 2011, the supplemental feeding for the day-care pupils in public schools in the city had been implemented only in the later part of 2012.

COA suggested that next time that the national government will grant additional budget for supplemental feeding program it should be used immediately so that the vision of the government of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and alleviating nutrition problems among children can be attained.