Commission on Audit: P6B properties unaccounted for

OFFICIALS and employees of the Negros Occidental Provincial government have P66.992 million unsettled cash advances as of December 31, 2017, according to a report of the Commission on Audit (COA).

The same report also showed that they failed to conduct a physical count of property, plant, and equipment in the amount P6.045 billion, the investment property of P32.439 million, and biological assets of P41.961 billion in 2017, which is considered "doubtful."

The six-page COA report obtained by the media Thursday, May 10, showed that the unpaid cash advances of officers, employees and special disbursing officers of the provincial government "is contrary to the provisions of Section 89 of Presidential Decree 1445 and COA Circular No. 97-002 dated February 10, 1997."

The audit agency recommended that the provincial governor and the provincial accountant "demand immediate liquidation or settlement of unliquidated cash advances."

Failure to comply, the report said, would mean withholding of salaries from those in active service after the prescribed period has lapsed.

Periodic evaluation and validation of all unliquidated cash advances were also recommended.

The COA also said that the provincial government "institute control measures by requiring the retiring officials and officials to execute an authorization to deduct all financial obligations including outstanding from their terminal leave benefit claims.”

"The provincial governor directs the Inventory Committee and the Provincial General Services officer to conduct a yearly physical count of its properties" and "implement the immediate reconciliation of their records," it said.

The report, which was signed by Provincial Auditor Rene Caro, also said that transfers to the Hospital Operations Division (HOD) amounting to P931.115 million as of November 15, 2017, used for personal services for the 11 Capitol-operated hospitals violates the Local Budget Circular No.100 dated October 1, 2012, of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The COA recommends that Capitol adopt "cost-cutting measures or implementation of measures resulting in improved systems and efficiencies" if the HOD "cannot fully fund their personal requirements."

The audit body also said that the savings of the HOD amounting to P7.010 million used to fund the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentive of P15.600 million violates Budget Circular No.2017-3 dated November 16, 2017.

"We recommend that the HOD employees shall refund or return the amount of P6,386,500 representing appropriation not allowable for the payment of CNA Incentive," it also said.

The COA also found out that "payments of consigned goods to 44 consignors in the aggregate amount of P121.221 million were not supported with a list of patients, thereby, casting doubt on whether the consigned items were actually received by the intended beneficiaries."

A total of P37,529,500 of the P102,760,000 of the Mitigation Fund under the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) fund "remained unimplemented, and P37,638,500 was un-programmed depriving the intended beneficiaries of the benefits that could have been derived," the agency said.

Project proposal amounting to P80.007 million or 14 percent of the 20 percent development fund of P566.500 million "was not compliant with the Gender and Development (GAD) objectives,” the report also said.

The report said Capitol also "failed to record in its books of accounts the Calendar Years 2012-2013, and 2017 unpaid obligations totaling P24,308,710 with PhilHealth for the premium contributions of all identified beneficiaries to the province-sponsored Health Insurance Program."

It added that the Special Education Fund (SEF) budget for 2017 that included P9.402 million for payment of tuition and other allowances of teachers of the Department of Education (DepEd) who enrolled in the post-graduate courses at the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod City "which is not among the allowable chargeable against the fund, contrary to the Joint Circular No.1 of the DepEd, DBM and the Department of Interior and Local government series of 2017."

Grants and donations under the 20 percent development fund amounting to P7.517 million (8.38 percent) out of the P89.697 million allocated for priority programs or projects for local government units and non-government organizations "were not utilized in accordance with the Updated Guidelines and Appropriation and Utilization of the 20 percent of the Annual Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) and violates Item 3.0 of Joint Memorandum Circular No.2017-1 of DILG and DBM dated February 22, 2017," the report said.

It also said that COA personnel assigned to review the report noted "weaknesses or lapses" on the control measures instituted in the collection system, "resulting in the under remittance and under-recording of collections and income totaling P17,242.50."

Project deficiencies, the agency report also stated that project deficiencies "were not minimized and or avoided due to lack of strict supervision on the project implementation.

COA recommended to Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. to "require the five contractors to make the necessary corrective measures to address the deficiencies" and the assignment of "a full-time project engineer or a project supervision team composed of not less than three technical staff "shall be designated to strictly supervise the day-to-day construction activities/implementation."

Provincial Budget Officer Jose Percival Salado said that the COA report is "more on procedural."

"This 2018, we are correcting the procedures we used to follow and we also discussed this during our planning workshops," Salado said.

With regards to the inventory, "some of those are way back in the 1970's especially the biological inventories as these have been already dispersed to the beneficiaries,” he said, adding that the provincial government has begun the process of dropping these entries from the inventory on the advice of the COA.