COA: Olympian Obiena did not misuse gov't aid

Filipino Olympian and pole vaulter EJ Obiena has used the P10 million worth of government assistance given to him for the intended purpose of funding his training for international competitions, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Commission on Audit (COA) said.

In its annual audit report on the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), state auditors said that the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA), the national sports governing body for Obiena's sport (athletics), has unduly burdened Obiena with liquidation duties of of P10 million of government financial assistance due to PATAFA's repeated failure to liquidate past financial government aid to its athletes on time.

As a result of PATAFA's late liquidation, COA said PSC has directly released P10.3 million out of the P12.3 million worth of state financial assistance to Obiena, a move in violation of COA rules, to ensure that Obiena gets enough support for his training.

"Upon the request of an NSA (PATAFA), the PSC granted financial assistance directly to an athlete to support his training abroad in preparation for his participation in international competitions such as the 2019 Southeast Asian Games and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Inquiry revealed that the direct release of financial assistance was due to the unliquidated previous financial assistance of the NSA and out of necessity in order not to hamper/disrupt the athlete's international training," COA said.

"While we note that based on our regular audit, the related expenditures for the financial assistance were utilized for the purpose granted, the audit team observed that the huge amount of financial assistance directly released put financial reporting or accountability problems on the athlete," COA added.

Under COA Circular No. 2007-001,the PSC should release the fund to an accredited NSA involved, in this case, the PATAFA under a memorandum of agreement. The PATAFA will then release the funding to the athletes like Obiena.

COA said PATAFA also took years to to liquidate P2 million worth of government financial assistance to its athletes released during the following dates:

• July 1999,
• March, June and August 2017, and
• August 2018

The same COA report revealed that PATAFA only liquidated the P916 million financial aid granted to them by the PSC in 1999 in February to December 2021, while the remaining amount of releases in 2017 and 2018 were only liquidated in 2019 to July 2021.

These timeframe, state auditors said, is contrary to the memorandum of agreement that the PATAFA entered with the PSC.

"The NSA (PATAFA) is in remiss of its obligation to liquidate on time the financial assistance granted to it, contrary to the provision of the MOA it entered into with PSC wherein it states that the liquidation will be made after within 30 days after the completion of the sports competition or event or project," COA said.

"We have noted that the long period of time these funds remained unrefunded deprived the PSC to utilize the same for its other sports promotion and development programs," COA added.

The PSC did not contest the findings.

In the same COA report, state auditors said that the PSC has agreed to the following COA recommendations which include:

• Suspension of the grant of financial assistance to NSAs with outstanding balances
• Stopping the practice of giving directly to athletes
• Demand the liquidation/refund of all financial assistance within 30 days after the completion of the sports competition/event as provided in the MOA.

PATAFA has initially accused Obiena, who made the pole vault finals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, of misusing the government assistance given to him.

Obiena denied such allegations, saying that he dutifully accounted for the state assistance even if such activity takes time off his training.

Obiena and PATAFA eventually reconciled in March 2022.

—MGP, GMA News