COA tells Bogo not to use disaster funds for office expenses

Local

THE Commission on Audit (COA) has advised the City Government of Bogo to stop the practice of utilizing items intended for disaster-related response for routine consumption of its offices.

In its 2025 audit observation and recommendations for Bogo that was posted on its website, the state auditors said standby food items for prepositioning and stockpiling charged under the 70% Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM) Fund worth P371,500 were utilized by various City Hall departments or offices as early as February 2025, instead of reserving them for disaster preparedness and response.

Among the items were coffee, choco malt, powdered milk, cereal mix with milk, premium rice, sardines and corned beef and distributed to offices like the Accounting Office, Budget Office, Mayor’s Office, Polambato Port, Terminal, Mayor’s Office and General Services Office, among others.

According to COA, these food items were “inappropriately distributed to various administrative offices for routine use” rather than being used for disaster response.

COA found out that withdrawals were conducted on various dates since early February 2025.

The LGU was directed to submit a written explanation and supporting documents to justify the noted deficiencies by the audit team.

The LDRRM Officer justified that some items were nearing expiration, and that this was a support for personnel working overtime and food preparation following the earthquake.

However, no supporting documents like inspection reports, inventory monitoring records, product photographs, among others, were provided to prove the assertion.

COA said some offices like the Accounting, CPDO and HRMO have withdrawn items from February to August, “indicating that the items were treated as routine office consumables rather than disaster response supplies.”

Bogo City experienced the 6.9-magnitude earthquake on September 30, 2025.

“Further, if the food items were already approaching their expiration dates upon delivery, such condition should have been identified during inspection and acceptance procedures. In such instance, the procuring entity should have evaluated whether the delivered goods complied with the required specifications and shelf-life requirements,” COA said.

The audit team also emphasized that using standby food items for routine office consumption violated the intended use of the LDRRM Fund for disaster preparedness and response.

It also reduces the City’s available supplies for actual emergencies if the relief goods were used for office consumption.(MyTVCebu)