THE Commission on Audit (COA) took two years to release its 2023 audit report on the Cebu Provincial Government. State auditors found a new P111.54 million hospital building that has been sitting idle for over two years, relief goods for super typhoon Odette (Rai) victims that expired in storage, nearly P59 million in unliquidated cash advances, and other financial management weaknesses.
Because of these and other issues, COA gave the province a “qualified opinion” on its financial statements for 2023.
The report was uploaded to COA’s website on Sept. 16, 2025. State auditors typically release such reports by midyear of the succeeding year. They published their 2022 report in July 2023.
The Commission did not post an explanation for the delay. Its 2024 audit report on the Province has yet to be made public.
THE KEY FINDINGS. COA’s annual report is a standard health check on how a government unit spends public money. The 2023 audit for Cebu Province pointed out several major concerns:
An unused hospital: A six-story extension building at the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City, finished in 2021, remains non-operational. Auditors said the reason is its failure to get an occupancy permit because a required fire hydrant system was not installed. This means a major healthcare facility, built with taxpayer money, isn’t serving the public.
Wasted typhoon aid: Relief goods donated for Typhoon Odette victims, including coffee, vitamins, and canned goods, were found expired or spoiled in a provincial warehouse. Auditors noted that out of more than 129,000 donated items, thousands were never distributed to the families they were intended for.
Missing money trail: The province has nearly P59 million in unliquidated cash advances. This refers to money given to officials for specific purposes that has not been properly accounted for with receipts or returned. Some of these unsettled accounts date back more than a decade, involving employees who are no longer in government service.
Budget without backup: Auditors found that P10.68 billion in “continuing appropriations” — or budget allocations from the previous year that are still valid—were not fully supported by available cash. This creates a risk that projects funded under this budget could stall if the money isn’t actually there when needed.
Other “lapses”: The report also identified an overpayment of over P852,000 for a road rehabilitation project and noted that several employees were handling cash collections without the required fidelity bonds, which protect public funds from loss or misuse.
THE PROVINCE’S SIDE. The Cebu Provincial Government, through then-governor Gwendolyn Garcia and other officials, responded to COA’s findings.
Regarding the idle Carcar hospital, the Provincial Engineer’s Office explained that certain requirements, such as the installation of a fire hydrant, were outside the original contractor’s scope of work. However, state auditors maintained that the failure to make the building usable pointed to weak project monitoring. An April 21, 2023 post on Cebu Province’s Facebook page shows Garcia and other officials opening the six-story extension building of the hospital.
Regarding the expired relief goods, the governor stated that the vast majority of donations — worth P1.7 billion — had already been distributed. COA countered that all in-kind donations must be fully given to beneficiaries to prevent waste and must be properly accounted for.
On the budget without full cash backing, the Provincial Government explained that the implementation of projects would depend on the actual cash flow to avoid a deficit. But COA insisted that under the Local Government Code, all appropriations must be backed by funds to ensure they can be executed. The province also committed to securing the required fidelity bonds for employees handling money.
WHAT A QUALIFIED OPINION MEANS. When COA gives a “qualified opinion,” it’s not a failing grade, but it’s not a clean bill of health either. It means that, for the most part, the financial statements are presented fairly, except for the specific problems auditors identified. In this case, the unresolved issues like the unliquidated cash advances and unsupported appropriations were significant enough for COA to “qualify” its opinion, signaling to the public and oversight bodies that these areas need correction.
WHAT’S NEXT. The findings of the next audit report, for 2024, will reveal if the Province has addressed the state auditors’ findings. / EHP