Comelec holds salaries, benefits of employees with unliquidated cash advances

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has passed a resolution holding the salaries and benefits of officers and employees who have unliquidated cash advances, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said Monday.

"The Comelec passed a resolution stating that all those with unliquidated cash advances na mga officials namin at employees, lahat ng salaries nila and benefits, will be withheld until they are able to liquidate the remaining cash advances," Garcia mentioned in his opening speech at the first Comelec Procurement Summit.

"In fact, kasama na rin don lahat ng other… actions even including filing of criminal cases against individuals who will not properly liquidate," he added.

The Comelec chief made the disclosure after the Commission on Audit (COA) reported about the poll body’s P2 billion unliquidated cash advances in 2022, most of which were spent for last year’s national and local elections.

According to Garcia, the unliquidated cash advances was P7 billion in 2022 and the P2 billion that was reported by COA was the balance for the early part of 2022.

“Hindi po P2 billion, P7 billion pa nga po yun. Seven billion [pesos] ‘yon nung nakaraang taon.  Two billion [pesos] nu’ng early part ng 2022. Ngayon po, P700 million na lang yon. Before the end of this year, gagawin natin na mas mapababa pa ‘yon hanggang mga P200 million kung hindi man hanggang P100 million,” he said.

The Comelec chief made mention of this as he emphasized that the poll body is seeking full accountability under the new leadership.

“If we are trying to make accountable our people, we are hoping that at least those from the outside the commission, kayo pong mga suppliers namin, kayo pong nasa media [you the suppliers and the media], you can always determine and find out that, indeed, the Comelec is fast-changing and becoming an agency that is accountable to the people and spending public funds wisely and with full accountability,” Garcia said.

In its annual audit report on the poll body, state auditors said over P2.1 billion worth of cash advances remained unliquidated even when the purpose for which they were granted had already been served, which is a violation of Presidential Decree 1445 and COA Circular No. 97-002.

Of the P2.1 billion in unliquidated cash advances, P2.089 billion was granted in 2022 alone, broken down into the following: P1.9 billion for Comelec Special Disbursing Officers (SDO) and P188.9 million for Comelec officers and employees (OEs).

Comelec spokesman Rex Laudiangco earlier confirmed the unliquidated cash advances but added that the liquidation process is still ongoing.

Laudiangco said all that remained to be settled in the said unliquidated advances is more than P717 million.

"And with closer coordination with the Commission on Audit, all that remains to [be] settled in the said unliquidated cash advances, as of July 12, 2023, is the amount of P717,154,871.57," Laudiangco said.

"This remaining amount [is] now continuously being liquidated as of writing," he added. —KBK, GMA Integrated News