COA flags delayed liquidation, excess cash advances of 33 OVP personnel in 2017

The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for the delayed submission of travel liquidation reports and excess cash advances worth P465,767.17 made by 33 of its personnel.

According to the 2017 audit report on the OVP, these personnel spent a total amount of P27.4 million — P26.4 million on local trips and P953,550.75 for foreign trips — but were unable to file their liquidation reports within the prescribed period under COA Circular 97-002.

The COA circular requires accountable officers to submit an accounting of their domestic and international travels within 30 days and 60 days, respectively, upon their return to the workstation.

However, state auditors observed that the submission of the OVP personnel's liquidation reports for the local travels got delayed by two days to more than three months. The COA did not include the delays for foreign trips.

The COA said the same number of OVP personnel also failed to refund their unused or excess cash advances last year. The amounts ranged from P158 to P62,018.

Section 5 of COA Circular 97-002 requires the immediate refund of any cash advance no longer needed or has not been utilized for two months. Failure to do so may result in the withholding of the concerned personnel's salary.

"Neglect of management to demand the immediate refund of unused/excess cash advances and the submission of liquidation reports within the period prescribed renders inaccuracies in the financial statements," COA said.

It added that delays in accounting signal a flaw in the OVP's Internal Control System (ICS), which may "unnecessarily expose government resources to risk of loss or misappropriation."

The COA recommended for the OVP to strictly enforce the provisions on the liquidation of cash advances and urged management to sanction any individual who fails to submit within the prescribed period.

The COA also said the OVP must strengthen its ICS to prevent the misuse of government funds and make its financial and non-financial portfolio more accurate.

Fully liquidated

In response to the COA, the OVP said it has issued Office Order No. 2018-02 dated January 25, 2018 that establishes internal control over the office's spending.

The OVP said this also serves as a reminder for employees on the submission of liquidation reports, or face the penalty of automatic withholding of salaries.

Undersecretary Boyet Dy echoed the comment of the OVP in a statement, saying all balances mentioned in the audit report were already fully liquidated.

"The OVP has instituted stricter measures to prevent similar delays. Full details of these steps taken by the OVP were communicated to COA in a letter sent in March 2018," Dy said.

"These include clearer guidelines on the handling of cash advances and the withholding of compensation for accountable staff subject to the full liquidation of advances, consistent with COA's own recommendations," he added. — MDM, GMA News