CODE-NGO to Government: Ensure that Bogus NGOs are Not Used for Pork Barrel Corruption

The Commission on Audit (COA) report on the misuse of “pork barrel” funds by a “bogus” non-government organization (NGO) demonstrates that registration with government agencies is not enough to ensure the legitimacy of NGOs. The COA report zeroed in on Pangkabuhayan Foundation Inc. (PFI), which used spurious receipts and disappeared along with P195 million in Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF). “We believe that incidents like this can be avoided and that the PDAF can be utilized more effectively and responsibly if NGO-recipients are limited to those certified by the Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) or similar certification bodies,” said Sixto Donato Macasaet, Executive Director of the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO).

“The incident involving PFI serves as a wake-up call to government officials to ensure that bogus NGOs are not used by unscrupulous individuals to pocket precious government funds. This hurts both the government and the legitimate NGO sector”, Macasaet added.

CODE-NGO also called for the immediate filing of cases against the PFI and its officers responsible for the misuse of the funds. “We need to hold accountable all those responsible for this crime”, Macasaet said.

Macasaet also asked Congress to be more transparent about their PDAF. ‘We appreciate DBM’s initiative to post online its PDAF fund releases, but as we have said in our PDAF Watch reports, congresspersons and senators should themselves disclose more information about their PDAF, including their criteria and process for selecting projects and beneficiaries”, he said.

The PCNC is an independent and NGO-initiated and managed certification institution duly recognized by the Department of Finance that certifies NGOs for good governance, financial management, and track record for creating impact to their beneficiaries.

COA reported that documents submitted by PFI to support its procurement for agricultural development and livelihood projects did not tally with those from suppliers. Two supposed suppliers were also non-existent. The PDAF came from the Senators Enrile, Estrada, and Revilla, and Buhay Party-list Representative Velarde. The PDAF was released to the Department of Agriculture (DA), which turned it over to the ZNAC Rubber Estates Corp. (ZREC), a government-owned and controlled corporation attached to the DA. The findings came from the latest audit by COA of ZREC.

CODE-NGO is a network of 6 national and 6 regional NGO networks with more than 1,600 base organizations nationwide. It has been spearheading the PDAF Watch initiative since 2006. As active advocates of effective, democratic and participatory governance, CODE-NGO upholds and promotes standards of conduct in development work in the same way that it demands good governance from the government. The CODE-NGO network encourages its members and other NGOs to participate in the certification process of the PCNC, as well as ensure the adherence of member NGOs to the Code of Conduct for Development NGOs.

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For more information, contact:
Sixto Donato Macasaet, Executive Director
(02) 920.25.95