OVP on 2024 COA report: No wastage of gov’t funds

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Thursday maintained that the Commission on Audit (COA) had “no finding of wrongdoing” on them based on the recently released 2024 audit report.

Headed by Vice President Sara Duterte, the OVP said the significant audit observations and corresponding recommendations by COA on its report were discussed with its management officials during an exit conference on May 16, 2025.

“The OVP highlights that there were no findings of loss or wastage of government funds or property in the audit, and all issues raised were primarily administrative in nature and management agreed to implement all corresponding recommendations to address the observations for [Calendar Year] 2024,” it said.

“No finding of wrongdoing,” it noted, adding that the COA rendered an unmodified opinion on the fairness of presentation on the OVP’s financial statements.

An unmodified opinion means that the financial statements were presented fairly in all material aspects. 

Among state auditors’ findings was the delayed liquidation of financial grants that the OVP provided in 2024 to beneficiaries of its livelihood assistance program, Mag Negosyo Ta ‘Day (MTD).

As of May 7, 2025, the COA reported that 14 of the 31 grants were fully liquidated, 11 were returned for compliance, and six remained unliquidated.

The audit body also noted that the traveling expenses of the OVP in 2024 decreased from P42.77 million in 2023 to P34.42 million in 2024. 

The Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) personnel of the OVP also decreased to 335 in 2024 from 443 in 2023 and 433 in 2022, according to state auditors.

In an ambush interview at the Hague on Friday, Duterte denied accusations of overpriced CCTV cameras and reiterated COA’s unqualified opinion.

“Wala pong findings na ganun ang Commission on Audit. Kung nakita ninyo sa statement ng Office of the Vice President, pinublish na yung report ng Commission on Audit at wala silang findings of any wrongdoing sa Office of the Vice President,” she said.

(The Commission on Audit has no such findings. If you see the statement of the Office of the Vice President, the Commission on Audit has published the report and they had no findings of any wrongdoing by the Office of the Vice President.)

“In fact, meron silang binigay na unqualified opinion doon sa opisina ng Office of the Vice President… Nagpapasalamat ako sa [personnel ng OVP] dahil nakuha nila yung unqualified opinion,” she added.

(In fact, they gave an unqualified opinion to the office of the Office of the Vice President… I thank the [OVP personnel because they got the unqualified opinion.)

She also acknowledged her recent trust ratings and thanked her supporters.

“Nagpapasalamat din ako sa ating mga kababayan na nakikita nila yung trabaho ko bilang Vice President at trabaho ng mga kasamahan ko sa Office of the Vice President at malaki ang kanilang tiwala sa kakayahan namin,” she said.

(I also thank our countrymen that see my work as the Vice President and see the work of my colleagues at the Office of the Vice President, since they have high trust in our capacity.)

“Kahit man na bumamba o tumaas yan, na pabago-bago ang numbers, (Even if it increases or decreases and the numbers keep changing,) rest assured that the Office of the Vice President will continue to faithfully serve the Filipino people." — with Jiselle Anne Casucian/JMA/VBL, GMA Integrated News