The House committee on Public Accounts is urging the Commission on Audit (COA) to immediately conduct a comprehensive fraud audit into the supposed misuse of the P6.4-billion 2024 Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) under ex-chief minister Ahod Ebrahim.
In a statement, the Committee said the COA must scrutinize the accelerated disbursement of approximately P1.5 billion per month when Ebrahim served as both chief minister and President of the United Bangsamoro Justice Party (UBJP).
It describes the case as ranging from political favoritism to potential kickbacks and requiring specialized forensic investigation beyond standard audit procedures.
A directive, detailed in Committee Report No. 1502, followed a congressional investigation that uncovered an alleged systematic scheme to redirect public funds.
The probe must focus on whether the unprecedented rate of disbursement complied with government accounting and auditing rules, particularly the timing ahead of the 2025 elections.
The House investigation found that P6.4 billion was released by Ebrahim in a four-month period preceding the supposed first BARMM parliamentary election in May 2025, with funds flowing exclusively to local government units and barangays aligned with the ruling UBJP.
Lawmakers cited that the opposition-led LGUs did not receive any funding, while some favored barangays and UBJP received allocations as high as P25 million.
They outlined a comprehensive forensic mission for COA to verify the validity of funded projects, trace financial flows to identify any irregular transactions, and examine procurement and disbursement processes to establish if there was a commission of plunder, graft, and malversation of public funds.
The Committee stressed that BARMM’s fiscal autonomy must not compromise adherence to national standards of accountability and proper governance.
