Marilyn Cahatol

Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio gestures during a press briefing at the Cybergate building in Mandaluyong City on September 25, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

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VP Sara Duterte

Job Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for releasing around P3.4 million to the beneficiaries of their livelihood assistance program supposedly despite the absence of the evaluation for the feasibility and viability of project proposals.</p><p>State auditors noted that &quot;Mag Negosyo Ta &#x27;Day&quot; granted financial assistance to 128 individuals and 10 organizations in 2024, amounting to P1.920 million and P1.5 million, respectively.</p><p>While these beneficiaries were qualified, COA said their project proposals were “not evaluated” by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and even the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC).</p><p>These two agencies were supposed to determine whether the projects are feasible and even economically viable.</p><p>“The feasibility and economic viability of the project proposals of the 138 economic beneficiaries both individuals and NGOs/CSOs were not reviewed by PDIC and DTI due to absence of any evaluation or assessment report which will support the review of the proposal of each prospective beneficiary and no results were endorsed to the OVP,” the report read.</p><p>“Moreover, no written agreement was prepared by OVP with the PDIC and DTI relative to their responsibility for the review of the project proposals of the beneficiaries and subsequent endorsement to the OVP,” it added.</p><p>According to the report, the program’s focal person talked to COA and explained that it “might be challenging” for the project proposals to be evaluated by another agency since there is no written agreement between them and the OVP.</p><p>COA added that the OVP issued a revised manual of operations for &quot;Mag Negosyo Ta &#x27;Day&quot; on Oct. 29, 2024.</p><p>“Item B, Section VII of the revised manual provides that for both individual and group application, SO or SPD staff is required to ensure that the project proposal and/or proposed livelihood/microenterprise is viable,” the report read.</p><p>Based on the report, the OVP said their Special Projects Division staff already launched a reorientation on the program’s manual of operations to the Satellite Office leads last Feb. 6, 2025 during their planning conference.</p><p>The OVP also created a project assessment tool to evaluate the applicant’s project proposal.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/11/13/sara-duterte-recognizes-ovp-s-dedicated-public-service-on-90th-anniversary-1235">Sara Duterte recognizes OVP’s ‘dedicated public service’ on 90th anniversary</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>SOME BARANGAY CERTIFICATES SUBMITTED ‘NOT COMPLIANT’</strong></div><p>Meanwhile, in the same report, COA also raised that the barangay certificates submitted by 8 individuals “have deficiency” and were “not compliant” with a provision under the project’s manual of operations.</p><p>State auditors said 8 out of 128 individuals only had certification in their residency “but without certification on whether the individual has no derogatory record.”</p><p>Beneficiaries who have deficiencies, COA said, already complied.</p><p>“The concerned individuals with deficiency in documents have submitted their new barangay certification and it was provided to the Audit Team on February 14, 2025,” it said.</p><p>State auditors recommended that in the future, the OVP should make sure that the barangay certification for individual applicants would include certification on the residency and the applicant’s derogatory record.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/12/2/sara-duterte-vows-to-fight-corruption-greed-as-she-presents-achievements-in-2025-1121">Sara Duterte vows to fight corruption, greed as she presents achievements in 2025</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>LATE LIQUIDATION</strong></div><p>Auditors also noted the OVP&#x27;s late liquidation for the livelihood program, with submission falling behind up to 154 days.</p><p>In its annual audit report for 2024, state auditors said the OVP granted 31 individuals and 11 organizations around P15,000 and P150,000 each, or a total of P465,000 for individuals and P1.65 million for organizations under Mag Negosyo Ta &#x27;Day, its livelihood program.</p><p>But based on the audit team’s review of liquidation and fund utilization reports, they were “not liquidated on time with delays ranging from two to 154 days,” contrary to the program’s manual of operations dated Feb. 27, 2023.</p><p>While individual beneficiaries were informed of their responsibilities under the Acknowledgement of Obligation, COA said it “failed to include specific provision stipulating the period of utilization of the financial assistance and liquidation thereto.”</p><p>“While it is worthy to mention that the OVP has implemented a control in tracking the individual beneficiaries&#x27; utilization and liquidation of the financial assistance, there were no written actions to be taken or penalty to be imposed in case of non-submission of the prescribed reports and non-liquidation of financial assistance by the beneficiaries,” the report read.</p><p>COA said it had a conversation with the Special Projects Division personnel, who said that “the period of utilization and submission of the required documentations for individual beneficiaries was only discussed verbally during the orientation.” </p><p>For organizations, the report stated that the OVP required them to prepare and submit a liquidation report, along with the fund utilization report and other supporting documents to their Accounting Division through the project coordinators.</p><p>This was despite the fact that the Revised Manual of Operations for the livelihood assistance program had not yet been issued when they granted the financial assistance, as the revision was only issued on October 29, 2024.</p><p>Based on Item VIII of the revised manual, the period to use and liquidate the financial assistance grant was shortened to 60 working days.</p><p>But COA had some comments. </p><p>“The review and validation process and recording process of the SPD and Accounting Division upon receipt of the liquidation documents, considering the limited manpower of the concerned SPD project coordinators, were not considered in the revision,” it said.  </p><p>“The agency should have provided a period for the beneficiaries to utilize and liquidate and a period for the SPD and Accounting Division to process and record the liquidation upon receipt of the liquidation documents from the beneficiaries,” it added.</p><p>The COA noted that the OVP’s accounting division created a monitoring system for the monitoring of liquidation. But state auditors said the accounting division “has no course of action if there are delays in the liquidation or non-liquidation.&quot;</p><p>“The delays in the liquidation of fund transfers could have been avoided if demand for settlement of unliquidated fund transfers is being done. As a result, there were still delays observed in the liquidation process,” COA said.</p><p>The OVP told COA that the Special Projects Division had already revised the Acknowledgement of Obligation for individual beneficiaries, which clearly indicates the period for the financial assistance’s utilization and liquidation.</p><p>“The revised document now specified the applicable penalties or sanctions in cases of non-compliance, ensuring that all recipients fully understand their responsibilities and the consequences of failing to meet the program&#x27;s requirements,” the report read.</p><p>COA suggested to the OVP to create a monitoring system for the liquidation and its process to ensure that the fund transfers were timely liquidated and reflected in the books of accounts.</p><p>It also said the OVP should instruct the chief accountant to issue demand letters to individual beneficiaries who were not able to submit liquidation in due time.</p><p>For OVP’s part, it said it was  revising the financial assistance program’s manual of operations to include provisions on liquidation requirements, sanctions, and penalties in case of non-compliance.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VEURclIRIrk?si=PGjODbv8da9iVxjs" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for releasing around P3.4 million to the beneficiaries of their livelihood assistance program supposedly despite the absence of the evaluation for the feasibility and viability of project proposals.</p>

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for releasing around P3.4 million to the beneficiaries of their livelihood assistance program supposedly despite the absence of the evaluation for the feasibility and viability of project proposals.

COA: OVP grants P3.4-M to livelihood beneficiaries amid ‘absence of feasibility, viability’ in project proposals

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COA: OVP grants P3.4-M to livelihood beneficiaries amid ‘absence of feasibility, viability’ in project proposals

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 02, 2025 12:29 PM PHT

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Updated Dec 02, 2025 02:57 PM PHT

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Commission on Audit

Office of the Vice President

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