COA report claims Tourism dept. disbursed P507M without supporting docs

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has disbursed P507 million of its budget without the necessary documentation, the Commission on Audit (COA) has claimed in a report.

In its annual audit report on DOT, the commission noted P507 million in disbursements were released in violation of COA rules and Presidential Decree 1445.

The biggest chunk of disbursement amounted to P292 million of various expenses that the DOT-Central Office (CO) charged to Manila’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in November 2017.

Payments made for copies of videos in “CD/DVD” as proof of production and airing worth P153 million were made by the DOT-CO.

DOT-Region 3 registered 197 approved disbursements totaling P6.3 million and 22 liquidation reports amounting to and P486,000.

DOT-Region 13 was also one of the offices which accumulated one of the highest undocumented disbursements, with payments for foreign travel expenses of officials amounting to P88,000 and salaries and wages of regular employees and job order personnel of P4.5 million.

DOT-Region 13’s liquidation of petty cash fund totaling P11,000 was not supported by Certificates of Inspection and Acceptance on some purchases, according to COA. There was also no canvassing of at least three suppliers for purchases P 1,000 and above, as well as purchase requests and duly authorized trip tickets for fuel purchases.

The commission noted the lack of official Report of Waste Materials in case of replacement or equipment repair.

“Non-submission of the necessary documents affects the validity and propriety of the disbursements made and an indication of weakness in the internal control over disbursements of Central and Regional Offices,” state auditors said.

COA then recommended that the DOT direct its chief of accountants and other responsible persons or staff to submit the missing documents, to ensure that payments made were properly supported with complete documents in line with relevant laws.

The DOT management committed to comply and submit the missing documents, COA noted.

The commission welcomed the DOT’s response, with a reminder that the concerned agency could only be deemed as having complied with the state auditors’ recommendation once the missing documents have been submitted as provided for by the relevant laws. Otherwise, COA would be compelled to issue a Notice of Suspension for the disbursements involved.

The Tourism department, in a statement, said the agency "will conduct a thorough review of the findings contained in the recently published report of the Commission on Audit (COA)."

"The COA findings also covers the projects from the previous administration of the DOT, under then-Sec. Wanda Teo. Around 90% of the P507 million spending in question was during this period," the DOT added.

All officials of the department at the central and regional offices were directed by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat to prepare pertinent documentation and responses to comply with the requirements of the COA.

">"Sec. Puyat maintains that the agency remains committed to the Administration’s policy of transparency and accountability," the agency added. —VDS/BAP, GMA News