De Lima: Report on unliquidated P290k DOJ cash advances not updated

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday branded as "not updated" reports that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has accumulated P290.15 million in unliquidated cash advances in the last few years.

 

De Lima claimed her agency, through its Finance Services department, has been "promptly complying with the requirements and submitting the necessary liquidation documents to the Commission on Audit Central Office and just awaiting for the corresponding Credit Advice."

 

A credit notice or advice serves as a clearance or certification that COA has reviewed and found as regular expenditure reports on the DOJ's intelligence funds.

 

Several reports earlier quoted a Commission on Audit report released September 19 showing that the DOJ had a total of P290.15 million in unliquidated accounts: P147.42 million cash advances for 2012 and P142.72 million cash advances by officials and personnel from "2011 and prior years."

 

The COA report said that of this total figure, P225.05 million went to the Witness Protection Security and Benefit Program (WPSBP) and was listed as “confidential and intelligence expenses.”

 

Of the said expenses, P115.53 million was released in 2011 or earlier while P109.52 million worth of disbursements were made in 2012.

 

"We have updated our 2012 records and out of the P290 million unliquidated cash advances, P261.7 million is awaiting Credit Advice from COA-CO and only P15.3 million awaiting compliance from concerned officials/employees," De Lima explained.

 

"These cash advances would appear in DOJ's books as unliquidated in the absence of Credit Advice. In short, that report on unliquidated cash advances is not updated," she added.

 

The newspaper reports that cited the COA report acknowledged that the DOJ has reportedly submitted a report detailing intelligence fund expenses for the sum of P218.78 million but COA has not yet issued a credit notice.

 

According to the same COA report, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) also used up unliquidated intelligence funds worth P18 million and the Office of the Secretary had spent another P25.406 million

 

The remaining unliquidated advances consisted of expenses for local and foreign travels, purchase of supplies and fuel and operating and sums spent on regular operations of IACAT and the Witness Protection Program. —KG, GMA News