AFP: COA report on Marawi fund disbursement “flawed”

July 4, 2019

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) cited on Thursday the "flawed" in the report of the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the disbursement of donated funds for the soldiers killed and wounded during the Marawi siege.

Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesman, said COA “failed to capture the report in full and is therefore flawed."

He noted that COA cited that the wounded soldiers only received P23.14 million out of P274,964,222.02 in donations.

“The story failed to clarify the fact that the 'P251.718 million transferred by the AFP to various implementing agencies' came from the said P274.96 million which were actually distributed to wounded Marines, Airmen, and Army troopers through their respective branches of service and two other commands,” he said.

He said the "implementing agencies" referred to in the COA report were actually the Navy, the Air Force, the Army, Western Mindanao Command, and Health Services Command.

Arevalo also corrected COA report about the number of military casualties during the siege.

“The amount of P23.14M is for the GHQ (general headquarter) only to disburse which it actually distributed to some 949 wounded soldiers in the amounts and number of recipients as reflected in the report,” he said.

“Worth correcting in COA Reports number is casualties. AFP records of Marawi operations show that only 160 troops were KIA (killed in action) as against the COA report’s 287; and only 1,865 WIA (wounded in action) versus COA audit’s tally of 1,979.  The discrepancy is due to COA’s inclusion of other casualties for the entire 2017–not only Marawi,” Arevalo explained.

He said the “unequal distribution of benefits to the beneficiaries,” which COA cited to be due to “the absence of clear directives governing the grant/payment of financial assistance to the victims of the Marawi siege” should be taken in the proper context.

As of end of 2018, he said COA reported that AFP only managed to assist the families of eight killed soldiers with a check amounting P1 million for each family, while only 949 wounded soldiers received cash grants.

He explained that the AFP has existing policies governing distribution of financial assistance to casualties before the siege of Marawi.

"But the fund at issue is not an allocation to the AFP budget; it is from accumulated cash donations from benevolent individuals when Marawi broke out,” the official said.

Arevalo said COA also noted the "unequal distribution of benefits," such as P2, 000 were given to 23 soldiers; P3,000 to 139 soldiers, and so on while the amounts of P90,000 and P80,000 were each given to two persons.

“The amounts received were on account of the wounds incurred, the length of stay in the hospital, and the amount available at the time. The amount of donations started from zero and gradually accumulated,” he explained.

“The recipients of 80,000 and 90,000 sustained the most serious injuries since they were confined longer in the hospital and at the time that donations have reached its peak,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS