CoA flags OVP entrepreneurial program

THE Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) for failing to assess the viability of projects backed with seed money under its flagship entrepreneurial program.

State auditors gave an unmodified opinion on the OVP’s financial report, but said the agency did not check the feasibility of some of the project proposals by the 138 beneficiaries of its Mag-negosyo Ta ‘Day — Cebuano for “let’s do business” — program.

“The OVP has only visited 11 beneficiaries for monitoring after three months upon the release of funds, while the remaining 72 beneficiaries were visited either before or after the required period for monitoring or none at all,” CoA said in its 2024 audit report.

The OVP did not immediately reply to an e-mail and Viber message seeking comment.

The Mag-negosyo Ta ‘Day program aims to address the needs of people and groups suffering from “poverty, injustice and calamities” by helping them become self‑reliant through seed funding, according to the OVP’s website.

State auditors said home visits to 17 beneficiaries were delayed by 20 to 142 days, raising concerns that observations and issues on project implementation might not have been promptly communicated to the OVP.

“In order to evaluate and ensure that the seed capital fund is used for microenterprise development, monitoring and evaluation activities should be regularly conducted and properly documented,” according to the report.

“Thus, the OVP may not be able to determine whether the beneficiaries were provided with a sustainable income source and had improved their socioeconomic status,” it added.

Auditors added that 14 beneficiaries did not receive home visits, despite program rules requiring inspections a year after fund liquidation to check on livelihood activities and improvements.

“Verbal inquiry with the focal person for the program revealed that home visits were not regularly conducted due to lack of manpower,” CoA said. 

It added that home visits to 27 beneficiaries were conducted before the scheduled monitoring period, preventing the agency from properly assessing the status of project implementation.

Auditors said early visits were conducted to 14 other beneficiaries whose seed funds were fully used. “Even though the funds were fully utilized… It is premature to assess the progress or status of the project implementation within a short period of time.” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio