COA recommends sanctions on Palace execs

The Commission on Audit (COA) yesterday recommended the imposition of sanctions against “concerned accountable officers” at the Office of the President (OP) after it found questionable disbursements of government funds.

In its official audit of the accounts and operations of the OP for 2006, the COA noted unliquidated cash advances, abnormal negative balances, misused donated funds, and unreconciled balances of supplies and equipment inventory, as well as unrecorded loans granted out of the President’s Social Fund (PSF).

Based on the report, the COA listed 10 adverse “observations and recommendations” regarding the  submitted financial statements of the Office of the President. These included, among others:

• cash advances to regular and special disbursing officers totaling more than P615 million, which remains unliquidated as of December 2006. These cash advances were recorded under the accounts Cash-Disbursing Officers, Due from Officers and Employees, and Other Receivables, amounting to at least P77 million, P29 million, and P508 million, respectively;

• abnormal negative balances totaling to more than P4.4 million in several subsidiary ledger (SL) balances under the accounts Cash-Disbursing Officers, Due from Officers and Employees, and Other Receivables;

• loans granted out of the PSF in CY 2003 and January 2004 amounting to more than P269 million that were “not booked-up”;

• disbursements out of donations totaling P8.807 million that were used outside of intended purposes;

• transfers of fund to government agencies and other non-governmental organizations or individuals totaling P112.135 million that are improperly recorded;

• unreconciled record on Balances of Office Supplies Inventory and Property, Plant, and Equipment, by more than P10 million and more than P47 million, respectively; and

• failure to conduct physical count of other inventories valued at more than P13.4 million.

In particular, the COA stated in its report that for the year 2006, the OP received donations totaling P65.413 million from various sources for different purposes, including P7.1 million for Southern Leyte landslide; P35.6 million for Socio-Economic Project of the President; P2.7 million for victims of typhoon Milenyo; and P20 million for the relief and rehabilitation of areas affected in the province of Albay.

But the COA report pointed out that P4 million of the donations were disbursed as Donation to Foundation; P2.297 million for Summit Conferences/General Assembly; P900,000 for the maintenance of Malacañang Golf Course; P815,380.15 for hotel expenses; and P795,000 for burial expenses.

“The audit was aimed at ascertaining the propriety of the financial transactions and determine the fairness of the presentation of the financial statements of the agency,” the COA said.

Concerned accountable officers must be compelled to liquidate their cash advances within the prescribed period, and for the agency to refrain from granting additional cash advances to those who have unsettled cash advance, the COA also cited in its recommendations.

It likewise recommended that the agency exert more effort in asking its former officials and employees who were transferred, retired, or separated from the OP to do a full liquidation.

According to COA, the Office of the President consists of “the Private Offices, the Presidential Assistant System, the Executive Offices, the General Government Administration Staff, the Internal Administration Staff, the Internal Audit Service Unit, the Locally Funded/Foreign-Assisted Projects, and other Executive Offices.”

The OP directly supervises 61 other executive offices, agencies, commissions and committees that warrant the special attention of the President.