OVP risks disallowance of P125M confidential fund in 2022
If COA requirements not met
THE Commission on Audit (COA) has sent an audit observation memorandum, or AOM, to the office of Vice President Sara Duterte earlier this month in connection with the P125 million in confidential funds granted her office in December 2022.
An AOM is sent by COA to agencies if the documents and other audit requirements are incomplete. Failure to comply with the AOM means disallowance of the expenditure, and the agencies involved must return the funds to the National Treasury.
During the plenary House discussion of the 2024 budget of the COA, Marikina Rep. Quimbo, the senior vice chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations now defending the P5.786 trillion national budget, said she was surprised to learn from the COA that the P125 million given to the OVP on December 13 last year was “actually spent within 11 days” instead of 19 as estimated by the Makabayan block in Congress.
GABRIELA Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas demanded a copy of the AOM, claiming that public interest requires the release of such COA report since a large amount of public funds were spent in a short period.
The confidential funds given to the office of Vice President Duterte was taken from the contingent fund of the Office of the President since there were no budgetary allocation for such expenditure in 2022.
COA refused to release the AOM but later agreed when told by Quimbo that the audit report will be sent to the office of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.
Quimbo agreed the issue is imbued with public interest and even if COA disagrees, she will ask the audit body to release the AOM to the office of House Speaker. She said she understands the COA’s hesitance to release the AOM since unscrupulous persons may “weaponize” it and use it against Vice President Duterte even if the audit is still ongoing.
The Marikina lawmaker said the COA already sent the AOM to the OVP on September 15, which gives the office of Vice President Duterte until early October to submit documents required by the audit body or risk disallowance of the expenditures. She said COA pledged to complete the audit of the P125 million confidential fund of the OVP by November 15.
Quimbo said matters like this underscore the need to create a special oversight panel that include members of the minority in Congress to review how agencies spent confidential and intelligence funds.
ACT Teachers Partylist France Castro said the OVP spending P11.3 million a day of confidential fund highlights the need to set up better safeguards and clarify which agencies are entitled to these funds which are prone to abuses.
