COA flags DOJ’s unutilized funds, unliquidated advances

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Department of Justice (DOJ) over P316.2 million in unutilized funds for 2021.

State auditors also told the DOJ to liquidate over P75.1 million in cash advances made by various officers and employees of the agency last year.

Based on COA’s 2021 annual audit report, the DOJ failed to utilize P316,209,916.34 of the more than P9.7-billion budget allotted to the agency.

While the unutilized funds represent only 3.26 percent of the DOJ’s total budget, auditors said “these are still material and are more than enough to affect the level of efficiency of the Department’s implementation capabilities.”

“More projects/programs can be implemented out of these funds,” the report said.

COA said the low fund utilization occurred mainly for allotments in maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) and capital outlay.

For MOOE, only 69.97 percent of the P802-million budget was obligated as of Dec. 31, 2021, leaving an unobligated amount of P240.9 million.

Meanwhile, some P52.9 million or 26.31 percent of the DOJ’s capital outlay budget of P201 million were unutilized.

These include budget for communication networks, information and communications technology (ICT) equipment, furniture and fixtures, motor vehicles and other machinery and equipment.

In response, the DOJ explained that the implementation of the projects was halted due to the imposition of the community quarantine lockdown and work suspension due to the pandemic.

Some of the items identified by COA are currently ongoing procurements or for implementation, it added.

Earlier, President Duterte signed into law a measure extending the validity of the 2021 budget until the end of 2022.

Unliquidated

State auditors also urged the DOJ leadership to direct all concerned officers to liquidate all cash advances made last year.

Based on the audit, a total of P75,141,364.52 of the more than P190 million in cash advances granted in 2021 have yet to liquidated as of Dec. 31, 2021.

These include cash advances to special disbursing officers from the Office of the Secretary Confidential Fund (P26.7 million), Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program Confidential Fund (P44.8 million) and Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking Confidential Fund (P6.6 million).

There were also unliquidated advances for operating expenses and to employees and officers amounting to P26,428.84 and P20,600, respectively, the report added.

State auditors reminded the DOJ’s accounting division chief to regularly monitor the cash advances and liquidations, as well as ensure timely recording of advances, liquidations and refunds.

“A cash advance shall be reported and liquidated as soon as the purpose for which it was given has been served,” they added.

They reminded the DOJ that all cash advances for confidential and intelligence funds shall be liquidated within 30 days after every quarter, or from the approved target date of completion, or after it has been fully utilized, whichever comes first.

Biggest challenge

In another development at the department, outgoing Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said that cases against law enforcement agents involved in the President’s war on drugs had to be the “most sensitive” issue he had to deal with.

“The DOJ had to take important steps to make accountable the law enforcement agents who were directly instructed by the President to go all-out against illegal drugs,” Guevarra said, when asked to identify the most difficult case he handled under the Duterte administration.

He emphasized that Duterte understood where the DOJ was coming from and while it was a “point of stress” between them, the President never resorted to reprimanding him for going after police officers who broke the law.

“In fairness to him (Duterte), I think he understood it and he never called my attention. He never told me ‘Secretary Guevarra please go slow in that investigation of police officers.’ He never said something like that to me, called my attention and so forth and so on,” said Guevarra.

“He just let me do what I thought was the proper thing to do,” he added.

The DOJ secretary also pointed out that it was the President who disclosed at one UN General Assembly that he had instructed the DOJ and the Philippine National Police to review the campaign against illegal drugs.

By doing so, the President has “in effect” acknowledged that the government’s campaign against illegal drugs was not perfect and might have led to certain abuses, Guevarra said. – Robertzon Ramirez