COA urged to impose strict restrictions on cash advances

Sen. Franklin Drilon called on the Commission on Audit (COA) yesterday to address the over P17 billion in unliquidated cash advances racked up by the government over the years that he described as "staggering and worrisome."

At the hearing of the Senate committee on finance on the COA’s proposed 2007 budget, Drilon argued that the "failure to liquidate this raises questions on the legitimacy of the expense."

"Because if the expense is legitimate, there should be no question about immediately liquidating," Drilon told COA Chairman Guillermo Carague.

Based on the COA’s report for 2005, unliquidated cash advances from the government, excluding government owned and controlled corporations, amounted to P9.3 billion.

From government corporations, unliquidated cash advances totaled P2.6 billion. In the case of the local government units, the COA reported a total of P5 billion.

Drilon pointed out that P2.6 billion of the unliquidated cash advances was availed of by public employees and officers while P4.8 billion was availed of by public disbursing officers who hold petty cash.

"There are collecting officers who failed to remit P1.9 billion worth of collection to the national coffers. Should we not impose strictly the rules insofar as timely liquidation is concerned? Do we withhold the salaries of these cash disbursing officers?" Drilon asked Carague during the hearing.

"They have funds of government in their possession, which they have not liquidated. If only to compel them to liquidate, you should consider withholding the salaries of these people, who failed to account within a certain period of time," Drilon told Carague.

Carague said the COA has already submitted the records to the Office of the Ombudsman and the Civil Service Commission for possible criminal and administrative charges against the concerned public officials.

He agreed with Drilon’s suggestion that salaries of delinquent employees and officials with unliquidated cash advances be subjected to "salary deductions" to settle their accounts.

He explained that normal procedure would require all public employees and officials to liquidate cash advances 60 days after the undertaking.

Emphasizing the gravity of the situation, Drilon said the P1.7 billion in unliquidated cash advances would be enough to fund the construction of 68,000 classrooms at P250,000 each and ease the public school system’s perennial classroom shortage.