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MALACAÑANG defended Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC) on Thursday against accusations that it is being used by government agencies to avoid returning billions of unused funds to the national treasury.
Citing PITC data, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque noted that PITC, an adjunct agency of the Department of Commerce and Industry (DTI), has only P492,594,000 in government funding earmarked for its pending acquisitions for other government offices.
Of which, P468 million were allocated to projects under active acquisitions, while the remaining P24.5 million are allocated to projects that are expected to be awarded and implemented by year-end, Roque said. PITC, he also said, had completed P627.319 billion in projects.
Transactions completed
The Palace official made the comment in response to the accusation by Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, later backed by Senator Francis Pangilinan, that P33.4 billion of public funds are “parked” with the PITC. according to the report of the Audit Committee. (COA) as of December 31, 2019.
Pangilinan and Drilon asked the agencies and the PITC to return all unused public funds to the Treasury, while the Executive seeks money for the continued response to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the need to purchase vaccines.
Roque explained that the COA could have come out with that amount as PITC was still completing the requested acquisition from other government agencies at the time.
“Since then, this has decreased after PITC could already import [of the items for other government agencies]. “Said Roque.
In confidence
Roque also assured the public that all funds given to the PITC are in trust, preventing him from using the funds in any way other than what they are intended for.
“Under the law, if they spend the money in trust for any other purpose, they can be accused of fraud,” explained Roque.
In a Senate hearing last week, Commerce Secretary Ramón M. López said that the budget awarded to the PITC for acquisitions remains in custody.
The fund, he said, will be immediately returned to the national treasury, if the tender for said acquisition fails.
Drilon presses return of funds
Meanwhile, Drilon said Thursday that the Finance Department supports his suggestion to force agencies that parked billions at the PITC to return it to the National Treasury so it can be used for urgent public needs, such as Covid-19 vaccines.
Drilon revealed that he was informed in a phone call that Finance Secretary Carlos Domínguez had asked Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado to expedite an Executive Order that will make President Duterte order those agencies to return the fund. billionaire before the end of the year.
“There are no excuses, just return the money,” stated Drilon even as he thanked Domínguez for acting quickly, adding that “with the return of the P33.3 billion, we now have half of the P73.2 billion needed for the acquisition of Covid -19 vaccines “.
The minority leader previously stated that P7.04 billion in undelivered items to the Philippine military – coats and ties, jackets, boots and tires – comprise part of the billions in money from other agencies that are inactive at the PITC.
The senator added that in a letter, Domínguez reminded Avisado: “After our discussion, we would like to request the endorsement of the President by the Department of Budget and Management. [DBM] for return to the Tax Office [BTr] of the various transfers of funds to the PITC by certain government agencies, in accordance with the DBM guidelines on the matter ”.
Drilon stressed that the Duterte government should “immediately call for the immediate return of the huge cash that is idly in the coffers of the PITC while the government is struggling to raise funds” due to falling revenues due to the pandemic.
He recalled that as of October 31, 2020, “P32.6 billion remained in the hands of the PITC, according to the letter and 80 of which represent transfers of funds from the Philippine Army, P7.04 billion; Office of Fire Protection, P3.25 billion; Information and Communications Technology Department, P3,230 million; Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, P3.04 billion; Customs Office, P2.44 billion; Department of Health, P2.11 billion; Philippine Navy, 1.74 billion pesos; University of the Philippines Systems, P1.47 billion; Tropical Medicine Research Institute, P1.16 billion; and the General Hospital of the Philippines, 991.24 million pesos.
“I am pleased that the DOF is listening and acting quickly on the issues we raise regarding this huge sum of money parked at the PITC,” said Drilon.
He stressed that “we need P73.2 billion to finance the purchase of vaccines,” adding that “we need P30 billion a year to deal with our 6.5 million backward homes. We also need to feed 5.5 million. hungry Filipino families and support the 4.6 million unemployed Filipinos.
“If these funds have been there, doing nothing for more than a decade, in the PITC accounts, it means that government agencies do not have an immediate and overriding need for these projects. It is fair and just that it is returned to the national coffers immediately, ”said Drilon.
On the other hand, the Senate minority leader criticized the PITC for not prioritizing its main function of being a trading company and lamented that “instead, the PITC is focused on managing and growing its funds and billions of pesos. transferred to the agency by almost the entire government. “
