Alimodian PHP 2.7M Cebu trip extravagant, unnecessary – COA

ILOILO CITY — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the PHP 2.701-million expenditure of the local government of Alimodian, Iloilo, on a five-day team-building and benchmarking activity in Cebu in March 2025, describing it as extravagant and unnecessary.

In its 2025 audit report, COA said the cross-regional trip was marred by significant procedural irregularities and disregarded the judicious spending of local funds, casting doubt on the necessity, reasonableness, and propriety of the transaction.

Among the irregularities COA flagged were the payment for an unaccounted delegate, the funding of a non-employee technical consultant whose expertise the event did not require, the failure to prioritize cost-effective local venues, and violations of Joint Memorandum Circular No. 02, series of 2016, of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The activity, officially titled “Strategic Team Building and Benchmarking for Strengthened Local Governance,” took place from March 11 to 15, 2025.

The itinerary covered Cebu City, the municipality of Sibonga, and Barangay Simala in Sibonga, Cebu province.

Travel took up two of the five days.

Of the remaining three days, one went to benchmarking and two to team-building exercises held inside a hotel in Cebu City.

The COA report said the delegation was composed of municipal officials, functionaries, and staff of the local government of Alimodian.

Audit records showed that the municipal government disbursed PHP 2,700,740 for the delegation, an average of PHP 900,246.67 a day for the three days of actual activities.

The approved expenditure was charged against a lump-sum purchase request of PHP 2,701,750 covering 101 participants at PHP 26,740 each.

The Cebu trip drove most of the sharp rise in Alimodian’s staff training expenses in 2025, accounting for about 62 percent of the year’s total.

Alimodian’s annual training expenses rose from PHP 1,222,536 in 2024 to PHP 4,380,972 in 2025, an increase of PHP 3,158,436, or 258 percent, year-on-year.

Unaccounted delegate, consultant inclusion

A review of disbursement vouchers, travel orders, and official certificates of appearance issued by the municipal mayor of Sibonga uncovered two major compliance breaches in the composition of the delegation.

The local government of Alimodian paid for 101 participants at PHP 26,740 each, but official attendance logs and travel records confirmed that only 100 municipal personnel traveled to Cebu and took part in the benchmarking activities.

This left PHP 26,740 in public funds paid for an absent participant without supporting justification or proof of attendance.

Audit findings also showed that a technical consultant on procurement matters was included in the 101-member delegation at public expense.

COA pointed out that procurement systems and processes were completely absent from the event’s design and itinerary.

It added that the benchmarking in Sibonga did not involve highly technical matters requiring specialized consultant expertise that regular or permanent municipal employees could not handle.

Violation of austerity rules

COA said the local government of Alimodian failed to comply with DILG-DBM Joint Memorandum Circular No. 02, series of 2016, which prescribes policies on local government study tours and lakbay aral (learning visit) activities.

The circular discourages local government units (LGUs) from conducting out-of-region study tours unless they can establish that their capacity development objectives cannot be achieved through more economical means within their territorial jurisdiction.

“The objective of benchmarking, which is to study and replicate an LGU’s best practices, does not require the physical deployment of 101 officials and employees. Restricting the delegation to select key focal personnel would have sufficed,” COA said.

“The acquired knowledge could then have been systematically disseminated to the rest of the Municipality through institutionalized echo seminars at zero additional travel cost,” it added.

COA maintained that deploying a 101-member delegation to another region was extravagant and unnecessary.

The commission said the LGU should have prioritized several cost-effective options.

These included inviting resource speakers and experts on local governance, strategic development, or tourism to Alimodian; sending a smaller group of key personnel to Cebu for benchmarking and having them share what they learned through internal echo seminars; and holding the two-day team-building activity at municipal facilities, local convention centers, or hotels in Iloilo or neighboring Panay provinces.

“The total expenditure of PHP2.701 million constitutes a significant portion of public funds that could have been allocated to more impactful programs, projects, and activities directly benefiting the Municipality’s constituents,” the commission said.

“In times of economic challenges, local officials must prioritize fiscal restraint, directing scarce public resources toward the provision of basic services and facilities before funding dispensable inter-regional travels and activities,” it added.

Documentary deficiencies

COA also noted basic fiscal transparency lapses in the conduct of the trip.

It said the initial purchase request lacked an itemized cost breakdown and a specific target number of participants.

State auditors also noted that the disbursement voucher was initially processed without essential supporting documents required under Presidential Decree No. 1445, the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.

The missing documents included:

• the capacity development agenda and program alignment;
• the post-activity evaluation report and re-entry plan;
• certificates of appearance and attendance sheets for the two-day hotel team-building activity;
• the travel order and certificate of appearance for the 101st participant; and
• comprehensive photographic documentation of the activities.

Municipal officials later submitted photographs, a participant list, and a re-entry plan during the audit, but the file copy of the post-activity evaluation report remained missing.

The LGU instead submitted a regional transmittal letter as alternative proof of compliance.

Corrective measures

In the 2025 audit report, the local government of Alimodian concurred with COA’s findings and committed to several corrective actions.

Among the immediate steps COA required was the refund of PHP 26,740 for the unaccounted 101st participant, unless municipal officials present valid alternative proof of attendance or an acceptable justification.

The municipal accountant and the human resource management officer have also been directed to enforce strict fiscal oversight.

The local government committed to limiting participation in high-cost capacity development activities to regular and permanent officials and employees.

It also said it will prioritize economical options for future team-building and benchmarking activities.