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AN OFFICIAL of the Philippine Statistics Authority in Central Visayas (PSA 7) said they are now closely coordinating with the agency’s central office in Manila and also with Meta, the company behind Facebook, to delete their old hacked Facebook page that recently went viral for posting “random photos.”

Director Ariel Florendo of PSA 7 encouraged the public to refrain from sharing the newer posts of their hacked Facebook page to avoid creating confusion among social media users.

The chief statistician also revealed in an interview with SunStar Cebu on Monday, July 24, 2023 that this is the first time this has happened to them.

“It is sad that somebody has to do that. I do not know if the hacker is foreign or local. I do not know what they can get out of this,” he said.

New page

The infamous hacking of the agency’s official Facebook page also prompted them to release a public advisory through their new page named “Philippine Statistics Authority - Central Visayas” explaining the situation to the public on Monday.

They also confirmed that they are also in contact with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center and the Department of Information and Communications Technology for a crackdown on the hacking incident.

They also urged the public to report and unfollow the hacked account.

The hacked account went viral over the weekend after it posted a reel of several men vaping or smoking electronic cigarettes inside a vehicle.

Several more random posts were made since the hacking on the following days, including random photos of unidentified women and shared reels from other pages.

The hackers also posted several statements including “YOU LIKE ME??” and “No one [loves] me why.”

The page’s profile picture was also updated twice to a picture of a woman.

Memes

Netizens’ comments have taken the page’s posts by storm, with its comment section now resembling one of a “meme-posting” page.

A meme is a pop culture term for an image, video, piece of text, and others, typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users.

“Yong birth certificate ko asan na (Where’s my birth certificate)?” one netizen commented with an angry emoji.

“Philippine Slay Authority,” another netizen commented on a random photo of a woman posted on the hacked page.

The page’s last post before getting hacked was an update of their cover photo showcasing PSA 7’s officials.

For updates on statistics, civil registration, the Philippine Identification System and other activities, PSA 7 advised the public to like their new official Facebook page. (WITH CNU INTERN MIGUEL ANGELU LUMEN)

THE Commission on Audit (COA) flagged several transactions undertaken by the Lapu-Lapu City Government in 2022 as irregular, including the absence of signatures of eight Typhoon Odette (Rai) victims and 46 individuals who received twice their financial assistance.

State auditors also questioned the purchase of overpriced alcohol with a total price of almost P181,000, and payments of P4.751 million for the acquisition of supplies, meals, accommodation, and various maintenance and other expenses made through reimbursement instead of direct procurement from suppliers, depriving the City Government of an advantage in competitive prices.

Missing signatures

In its 2022 audit report, COA said the Lapu-Lapu City Government received various financial assistance from national government agencies for the victims of Typhoon Odette.

However, upon verification, state auditors discovered that there were eight missing signatures of the beneficiaries of the cash aid from Barangays Ibo, Gun-ob, Baring and Caubian. They were supposed to receive either P2,000 or P5,000 in aid, totaling P22,000.

The audit team also found out that the cash aid was tagged as fully liquidated in the account book of the disbursing officer and in the subsidiary ledger.

“The absence of the signatures of the payees on the payroll creates doubt as to the actual payment made to the concerned payees. In case payees could not receive payments personally, they are allowed to authorize in writing, persons specifically allowed by law and regulations to represent them,” COA said.

COA also flagged the disbursement of financial assistance twice to 46 individuals, either receiving P5,000 or P2,000, totaling P221,000, as this deprived the other equally deserving beneficiaries.

The audit team recommended to the City that the disbursing officer require the eight beneficiaries to sign on the payroll as an acknowledgment of receipt; otherwise, the officer must refund the P22,000. The City, in its reply, agreed with it.

The City also agreed to COA’s recommendation that the 46 beneficiaries who received twice their financial assistance refund the excess P5,000 or P2,000, or mandate the person responsible for the double listing to refund the total amount of P221,000.

It was agreed by both COA and the City Government to direct the City Social Welfare and Development Office to scrutinize the list of beneficiaries of all financial assistance programs of the City, ensuring that the assistance intended for eligible beneficiaries will get to them.

Expensive alcohol

State auditors also flagged the procurement of P180,779.85 worth of alcohol that was considered “overpriced” based on the Department of Health circular, “Price Freeze of Essential Emergency Medicines and Medical Devices due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Health Event.”

COA said the purchase also violated Section 5 of its Circular 2012-003, which defines what an excessive expenditure is.

In its reply, the City said it had overlooked the particular DOH circular; however, it was never its intention to neglect it.

The City explained that during the purchase, it had not received a copy of the said circular.

The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) also made sure that the purchase of the alcohol was not “unreasonably high and excessive” in accordance with the City’s expenditures.

“From one supplier to the next, the Committee remained attentive to the different prices of the medical supplies and, to the best of their discretion, chose the most inexpensive ones available. Yet, admittedly but inadvertently, they failed to recognize the applicable department issuances due to the urgency of the matter because of the pandemic,” the City said in its reply.

Reimbursement

COA further reported that the City Government reimbursed the purchase of P4.751 million worth of supplies, meals, accommodation, and various maintenance and other expenses.

State auditors argued that, as a general rule according to Section 48.2 of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, local government units must always adopt public bidding as the mode of procurement; however, there are instances that payments are made through cash advance.

However, COA noted that city officials and employees resorted to reimbursements as payment of government expenses through cash.

COA mandated Mayor Junard Chan to stop the said practice of reimbursement as payment for procuring goods and services, except for purchases that are paid out of the petty cash fund or cash advance. It also said that the city accountant and city treasurer must ensure that all payments are made through a check directly to the intended creditor, while BAC must also implement the mode of procurement stipulated in the Revised IRR of RA 9184.

In its reply, the City Government said the purchases under reimbursement were due to urgency and with the discretion of the city mayor through his discretionary funds, such as the payment of meal expenses on occasions when the need arose.

It said the City will adopt “the suggestion of having a framework agreement and planning ahead for the needs of each department in the City through the identification of such necessities and bidding out supplies or catering services for the entire year to lessen payment through reimbursements.”

“However, there are reimbursements where situations require immediate actions during that time which cannot be avoided,” it added.

A NOTICE of disallowance will be issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) on Cebu City after it found irregular disbursement of cash advances for a trip to Canada by four city officials including the mayor.

In its 2022 audit report, COA stated that the travel of four city personnel with a total cash advance of P1.992 million contravenes several provisions of Executive Order (EO) 77.

EO 77 prescribes the rules, regulations and rates of expenses and allowances for official local and foreign travel of government personnel.

Disallowance is the disapproval in audit of a disbursement transaction (either in whole or in part) found to be illegal, irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable.

On August 19, 2022, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, alongside Executive Director of Sister Cities Karla Paula Henry-Ammann, Protocol Officer Cinbeth Orellano and City Administrator Collin Rosell, who was the mayor’s executive secretary at the time, travelled to British Columbia, Canada to attend the Enthronement of the Image of the Sto. Niño at the Shrine of the Sto. Niño de Cebu at the St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Agassiz.

No approval

The state auditor noted that Section 10 of EO 77 states that regardless of length of travel and the number of delegates, foreign travels and payment of expenses must be approved by the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) or their authorized representative.

Investigation on the documents showed that only Mayor Rama had the proper travel authority that was approved by the DILG Secretary. In addition, payment of cash advances for the travel had no approval from the DILG Secretary.

The authority of the other personnel to travel was issued by Rama without any authority from the DILG Secretary.

The report also showed that each drew a cash advance amounting to P498,000 comprising the airfare and Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA). In addition, it was revealed that the amount of the DSA exceeded the correct amount by at least 2.5 days or an equivalent of around P217,000.

Section 14 of the EO states that the DSA shall only start upon arrival at the country and cease upon departure.

The summary of activities revealed that the group left for Canada on August 19 and stayed until August 25, which was the day of their departure back to the Philippines, which means the total travel time was seven days. But as per the attached itinerary of travel, the DSA was given from August 19 to 27 for a total of nine days.

The airfare was also called into question since the amount of P300,000 was considered excessive and was not supported with the airline’s flight price. Based on COA’s research, airline fares from Cebu to Vancouver were at a range of P25,000 to P28,000 for a one-way ticket.

COA also said Section 9 of EO 77 prescribes that the authorized approving authority keep the number of trip participants to the barest minimum, but that the travel order signed by Rama showed that the travel purpose of the three officials was similar, indicating that “the total number of four was not in the barest minimum.”

COA said the parameters behind the EO are there to prevent unnecessary travels that require immense cost from the government.

COA recommended that all provisions of EO 77 be followed for future travels and transactions to avoid disallowance in audit, which the Cebu City Government agreed to.

Sought for comment Tuesday, Rama said he had yet to receive a copy of the notice of disallowance but that it will be taken care of by Rosell and City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo.

“The usual disallowance has to be answered, and I don’t want to be confronting COA because they are also doing their job,” said Rama.

THE National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) has pledged to complete its deliverables, starting with two Visayas projects, after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called the firm out over its delayed transmission line projects during his second State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday, July 24, 2023.

In a statement posted in its official social media page late Monday, NGCP expressed its readiness to fulfill all the energy initiatives mentioned in Marcos’ Sona 2023, attributing the delays to issues on right of way (ROW) and the issuance of permits.

“Ipinangako ng NGCP na ibubuhos nila ang gawain tungo sa pagkumpleto ng mga kritikal na proyekto habang pabibilisan ang pagtatapos sa iba pang nakakasa na,” NGCP said.

(The NGCP has promised to pour work towards the completion of critical projects while expediting the completion of other pending ones.)

Review

A performance review of the private concessionaire will be conducted, Marcos said in his Sona specifying that over 68 projects were delayed based on data from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

“We finally have a Unified National Grid, with the interconnection of the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids. The ‘One Grid, One Market’ will enable more efficient transfers and more competitive pricing of electricity throughout the country,” Marcos said.

“We look to NGCP to complete all of its deliverables, starting with the vital Mindanao-Visayas and Cebu-Negros-Panay interconnections,” Marcos added.

NGCP president and chief executive officer Anthony Almeda said it will prioritize the immediate completion of the Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project (MVIP) and Stage 3 of the Cebu-Negros-Panay Interconnection Project.

Almeda added that the transmission firm has been working on it for a long time and both of these projects have already been energized.

The P52 billion MVIP was completed in 2022, energized on May 3, 2023 and it was expected to power up the country with a total of 450 Megawatts (MW) of output capacity before the end of the third quarter of the year.

The transmission facility allows the export of surplus power supply from Mindanao to the Visayas and then to the Luzon grid.

However, the NGCP asked the support of the local government units (LGU) to expedite the issuance of permits and provide the necessary assistance to address the problems.

Delays

ERC ordered the NGCP on June 14, 2023 to explain the delays in the completion of 37 projects that ranged from 21 to 2,561 days, or face administrative penalties. The commission said 26 of the projects were uncompleted, while three had yet to begin.

About eight NGCP projects in the Visayas region were delayed, including the Cebu-Negros-Panay 230 kiloVolts (kV) Backbone Project (Stage 1), Cebu-Lapu Lapu Transmission Project, Mindanao-Visayas Interconnection Project, Naga (Cebu) S/S Upgrading Project, Stage 3 of Cebu-Negros-Panay 230 kiloVolts (kV) Backbone Project, Tagbiliran 69kV Substation Project, Visayas Voltage Improvement Project, and Stage 2 of Cebu-Negros-Panay 230 kiloVolts (kV) Backbone Project (Cebu Substation 230kV Upgrading).

According to Transmission Development Plans submitted by NGCP to the Department of Energy (DOE), there had been only an eight percent increase of the transmission grid in terms of line expansion since 2009.

The report showed its 19,425 circuit-kilometers of lines in 2009 growing to only 21,027 circuit-kilometers in 2022, with even its expansion in the 2011-2018 pre-pandemic years averaging only 1.05 percent per year.

On track

Almeda, however, said “it is on the right track and it will work harder to implement these programs as soon as possible.”

It insisted that comprehensive, centralized and systematic planning in the energy sector was essential.

NGCP is currently intensifying its grid stabilization against disasters through a continuous upgrading of equipment and personnel, especially those that will be repaired quickly in times of calamities.

It will also accelerate its capabilities to accommodate the use of renewable and other sustainable energy sources through its partnership with State Grid Corp. of China (SGCC).

SGCC owns 40 percent of NGCP, while Philippine billionaires Henry Sy Jr. and Robert Coyiuto Jr. control 60 percent of the company.

NGCP was also currently investing in Filipino youth who want to become engineers through training and scholarship grants.

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