COA: Senate MOOE audit to be strict, may take ‘a while’

The auditing of the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of the Senate will be strict and may take “a while,” the Commission on Audit said Sunday. COA Chairperson Grace Tan said they have started analyzing the documents turned over to the commission, including receipts and other auditary evidence. “Napakabusising proseso ito, let me just be candid about it. It will take a while bago matapos 'yan. Sana sa lalong madaling panahon makukumpleto namin," she said in an interview on dzBB radio. But she indicated the COA may be able to produce a report for 2012 within this year. On the other hand, she said the COA will be quiet while it conducts its probe. “Hangga’t hindi namin natatapos ang pananaliksik hindi ako pwede magsalita," she said. She also said the audit of the MOOE is a regular audit. “Ang kaibahan [lang ay] ang hindi pagtanggap ng COA ng certification lamang ng mga senador, lang (The only difference for this audit is that we will not accept mere certifications by senators),” she said. Observations indicate that some expenses by senators have no accompanying receipts, only certifications from them. The row over the MOOE stemmed from complaints from senators in the minority bloc that they were not given additional MOOE late last year. Tan also said they will base their findings on the documents they received. But for now, she declined to comment further, saying they have just started their investigation. “Dahil 'yan galing sa mga transaction noong December, ang papeles niyan parating pa lang sa amin. Wala akong karapatan na magsabi ganoon nga ang nangyari, wala pa kaming narerepasong dokumento," she said. — LBG, GMA News