Republic ofthe Philippines DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT DILG-NAPOLCOM Building, EDSA comer Quezon Avenue, Quezon City ‘dig. eov.ph OFFICE OF THE UNDERSECRETARY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT DILG Legal Opinion No.3 ATTY. MICHAEL ARTHUR R. CAMINA City Legal Officer Office of the City Legal Officer Caloocan City 04 AUG 2014 Dear Atty. Camina: This refers to your 17 July 2014 letter requesting this Department's opinion if the funds of the City Peace and Order Council (POG) for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) may be used for the purchase of various vehicles for the use of its police force, the ambulances for Caloocan City Medical Center, and other offices and national government units in said City. ‘The following are the discussion relative to your query: Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) includes “expenses necessary for the regular operation of an agency like travelling expenses, repairs and maintenance, subsidies, ete.:” Sections 268 to 36 of the GOA Manual on New Government Accounting System for LGUs provide the complete details of expense items classified as MOOE. Expenditures for purchase of vehicle, on the other hand, is classified under capital outlay. Section 306 (d) of the Local Government Code of 1991 (hereinafter, the “Code’) defines capital outlay as follows: “Section 306 Definition of Terms. ~ When used in this Title, the term ar (@) “Capital Outlays” refers to appropriations for the purchase of goods and services, the benefits of which extend beyond the fiscal year and which add to the assets of the local government unit concerned, including investments in public utilities such as publi markets and slaughterhouses;” ' Section 7], Chapter, COA Manual on NGAS for LGUsBased on the foregoin,, sunds allocated for MOOE and capital oy are appropriated for specific purposes. Notably. Section 336 of the Code provides that funds appropriated by LGUs shall be available exclusively for the specific purpose for which they have been appropriated, viz: “Section 336. Use of Appropriated Funds and Savings.~ Funds shall be available exclusively for the specific purpose for which they have been appropriated. No ordinance shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations from one item to another. However, the local chief executive or the presiding officer of the sanggunian concerned may, by ordinance, be authorized to augment any item in the approved annual budget for their respective offices from savings in other items within the same expense class of their respective appropriations.” (Emphasis and underscoring ours) Clearly, expenditures for purchase of motor vehicles cannot be charged from the City’s appropriations for MOOE. We hope to have enlightened you on the foregoing. Very truly yours, AUSTERE A. PANADERO Undersecretary 1" | ® mom