SENATOR LEILA de Lima has urged Congress to investigate the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) deficient disbursement of its allocated aid funds under the Bayanihan 2 Act, as well as other delays in its project implementation.
She also filed Senate Resolution (SR) No. 884 underscoring
the need to hold officials accountable for said deficiencies and delays. De
Lima, De chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and
Rural Development, said the 2020 Commission on Audit (COA) report on the DOTr
noted several deficiencies, delays, and irregularities in DOTR project
implementation.
“The underutilization of DOTr’s aid funds not only hindered
its optimum use towards much needed programs, it also immobilized already
scarce funds which could have been appropriated towards the health and
education sectors especially in this time of pandemic. Concerned offices and
officials must therefore be enjoined to explain their failure to perform their
mandates,” she said.
Aside from DOTr's deficient disbursement of allocated funds
under the Bayanihan 2 Act, the COA report also revealed that there was delay in
15 DOTr Foreign Assisted Projects for 2020 with an aggregate cost of ₱1,312,605,770,000 as well as
misstatements in financial statements.
The report likewise highlighted the agency's failure to
deliver license plates despite acquiring ₱2,159,036,340
amount of funds from registrants and failure of several regional offices of the
LTO Disposal Committee to dispose 2,595 units of Impounded Motor Vehicle, which
prevented the agency from earning more revenues.
De Lima said Congress must inquire into the gaps in existing
laws that cause delay in public service. “It is also imperative that DOTr's
policies are looked into to ascertain whether existing bureaucracies in its
system hamper the performance of duties,” she said. “There should be no room
for ineptitude and gross negligence in government service, especially at a time
when such services are essential to the very survival of our citizens.”
There was no immediate reaction from DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade on the issues raised by De Lima. (Mindanao Examiner)
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