Malaca±ang: Malaca±ang on Tuesday endorsed the call for the Commission on Audit (COA) to initiate a fraud investigation into the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's (BARMM) management of its PHP6.4-billion Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).

According to Philippines News Agency, the endorsement follows a recommendation from the House Committee on Public Accounts on Monday for the audit body to conduct a fraud audit on the BARMM's allocation of LGSF to select villages in the region. Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro emphasized the importance of the investigation during a Palace press briefing. She stated, "Alam po natin na may nangyayaring hearing at iyan po ay ating nirerespeto dahil katungkulan naman po nila na magsagawa ng hearing at ito ay may kinalaman din sa kanilang oversight function (We know that a hearing is taking place and we respect that because it is their duty to conduct a hearing and it is also related to their oversight function)."

The committee raised concerns over funds channeled to more than 400 villages in Lanao del Sur province, with amounts ranging from PHP500,000 to PHP2.5 million from the LGSF. The COA's responsibility to audit funds exceeding PHP50 million was highlighted, based on the agency's internal auditing rules and policies.

Castro also clarified that the audit call is unrelated to the recent change in BARMM leadership. She mentioned that President Marcos appointed Abdulraof Macacua as the Interim Chief Minister of BARMM to enable Ahod Ebrahim to concentrate on the upcoming parliamentary elections in the region. Castro quoted Ebrahim, saying, "Si Sir Ebrahim mismo ang nagsabi na kaya po siya bibitaw at dahil magko-concentrate po siya sa BARMM Parliamentary elections (Sir Ebrahim himself said that he can resign and because he will concentrate on the BARMM Parliamentary elections)."