COA flags DOT over P6.1-M 'irregular, unnecessary, excessive' expenses

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Tourism (DOT) over P6.1 million worth of "irregular, unnecessary and excessive" expenditures in 2022.

In its audit report, the COA said these disbursements — amounting to P6,159,038.16 in total — contravened existing government rules and regulations or deviated from standard procedures on disbursements as defined in COA Circular No. 2012- 003 dated October 29, 2012, thus "affecting the validity and propriety of the expenditures."

COA Circular No. 2012-003 gives the following definitions of irregular, unnecessary and excessive expenditures:

• irregular expenditure - expenditure incurred without adhering to established rules, regulations, procedural guidelines, policies, principles or practices that have gained recognition in laws,
• unnecessary expenditure - expenditure that are not supportive of the implementation of the objectives and mission of the agency relative to the nature of its operation, as well as expenditure not dictated by demands of good government and those the utility of which cannot be ascertained at.
• excessive expenditure - unreasonable expenses or expenses incurred at an immoderate quantity and exorbitant price, expenses which exceed what is usual or proper, as well as expenses which are unreasonably high and beyond just measure or amount

"In the post audit of the DOT OSEC (Office of the Secretary) and ROs financial transactions, disbursements totaling P6,159,038.16 were considered not adhering to pertinent laws, rules and regulations, or are incurred without restraint, judiciousness and economy," the COA said.

The irregular expenses include:

• P168,500 for transportation allowance claimed despite having assigned or actually using government motor transportation (Office of the Secretary)
• P962,679 for expenses in engaging ground handling service contract (Office of the Secretary)
• P19,100 for non-imposition of liquidated damages despite delays in delivery (Region 5)
• P170,329 for payment of meals (Region 11)
• P235,436.09 for expenses on hotel accommodation (Region 13)

Meanwhile, the unnecessary expenditures included the following:

• P51,968.09 for travelling and gasoline expenses incurred in the retrieval of original documents such as disbursement vouchers from suppliers (Region 1)
• P1,771,475 for the procurement of giveaways and tokens, wellness kits worth P300 to P4,500 each given to the attendees, participants and guests during a free seminar (Region 4A)
• P312,250 for entrance free for simulation tours (Region 4A)
• P188,507.66 for meals of various groups (Region 4A)
• P1,735,729.77 for hiring of vans worth P7,500.00 to P16,000.00 per day for tourism activities and seminar even if there are six government vehicles available, three of them brand new (Region 4A)
• P10,253 for plane tickets erroneous booking by the supplier for a resource person (Region 5)
• P 230,844.92 for engaging services of Manila-based resource speakers for training activities (Region 13)

Lastly, COA listed the following as excessive expenses:

P260,575 for procurement of tour operator (Office of the Secretary) and
P41,390.63 for transportation services during the formulation of the Candon City services Ecotourism Zone Tourism Development Master Plan on November 22-27, 2021 (Region 1)

"The foregoing disbursements amounting to P6,159,038.16 could be considered as irregular, unnecessary, and excessive expenditures under the ambit of COA Circular No. 2012-003 dated October 29, 2012," the state auditors said.

"We recommended that the DOT OSEC and ROs demand full refund of the amounts considered as irregular, unnecessary, and excessive in nature," they added.

DOT's response

In response to COA’s findings, the DOT-Office of the Secretary said it will strengthen its coordination with the Human Resources Department (HRD) with respect to assignment of vehicles.

"The Administrative Service is already setting up the system of periodic reporting in order to apprise the HRD regarding the assignment of the motor vehicle of officials, the DOT said, as quoted in the COA report.

"Further, trip tickets will be reviewed to determine the amount of transportation allowance to be returned by the official concerned who received transportation allowance while assigned an official vehicle."

On the implementation of ground handling service contract, DOT conceded that the twin-sharing rooms were not fully utilized during the event, but noted that some invited participants did not attend without giving any written notice, and that some absentees were due to last-minute cancellations caused by conflicting schedules and other office activities.

The DOT also argued that despite its efforts to maximize the use of the available space, other participants opted to stay in another hotel for personal reasons, while most of the members of the Technical Working Group from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Biodiversity Management Bureau and DENR regions did not use the rooms allotted and provided by the DOT without giving due notice prior to the event.

The DOT also said it did not anticipate the low turnout of attendees.

"Had these invited participants provided early notice of non-attendance, the Management could have taken appropriate measures to address the situation," it told COA.

DOT Region 4A, for its part, said the DOT had to spend for giveaways to attract participants in the free seminar, and that the entrance fee amount is actual price in the establishment visited for simulation tours.

DOT Region 4A also justified the van rental expenses by saying that while there are six government vehicles that they can use, they only have one driver assigned at the Directors' Office.

The DOT Region 4A also said that its Accreditation Unit has a mandate to conduct physical inspection of tourism establishments for accreditation and they have a target to accomplish the same with other DOT personnel that have to go out on field work.

As for the hosting of meals of private groups, DOT Region 4A said it was part of the presentation of projects to promote Calabarzon to the stakeholders to help keep the audience.

The training conducted, DOT Region 4A said, was also one of the ways to address the general objectives provided by the Philippine Commission on Women in planning the National Women’s Month Celebration.

"The livelihood training and kits will help the participants to start their own business," DOT Region 4A said.

The DOT, meanwhile, said it agrees with COA’s findings that it is uneconomical for the Caraga region to engage the services of lecturers outside of Caraga Region due to the additional cost. —KBK, GMA Integrated News