COA issued ₱84M Notice of Disallowance vs. Oriental Mindoro flood project, says witness

The Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance worth P84 million out of the P289 million budget for the alleged substandard road dike flood control project in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, a prosecution witness said Thursday.

COA's Region 4B auditor Victoriano Acosta made the testimony during the bail hearing of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials facing a malversation case over the P289 million Naujan road dike project. The notice of disallowance was one of the attachments in the judicial affidavit of Acosta, which was only attached by the government prosecutors on Thursday, February 5.

COA Assistant Commissioner Alexander Juliano, during the 2024 budget deliberations in the House of Representatives, said that a notice of disallowance means that the expenditure is “either irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable."

Defying standards

COA's Acosta also testified that the P289 million flood control project was “constructed not in accordance with plans and specifications.”

The counsels for the respondents in the Oriental Mindoro flood control case, in response, said that the notice of disallowance is appealable and therefore, not a final finding.

COA’s Acosta agreed that a notice of disallowance is subject to an appeal.

During the cross-examination of the defense counsels on Acosta, the COA official also told the court that he did not talk to the DPWH officials about the status of the Oriental Mindoro project, even if the COA already issued multiple audit observation memorandums or AOM on the said flood control.

COA defines an Audit Observation Memorandum as a “written notification to the agency head and concerned officer/s informing of the deficiencies noted in the audit of accounts, operations or transactions and requiring comments thereto and/or submission of documentary and other information and requirements within a reasonable period.”

During the same day, the Sandiganbayan Sixth Division imposed a P1,000 fine on government prosecutors over the delayed submission of attachments of their evidence against the accused, including the P84 million notice of disallowance issued by state auditors concerning the Oriental Mindoro flood control project.

As such, COA’s Acosta will still return to the witness stand on Monday, February 9.—LDF, GMA Integrated News