Auditors monitoring expenses of 3 senators off

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has cautioned the Senate leadership against spending about P18 million in combined operational funds of suspended senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

“We are looking closely on the expenditures particularly on the office of the three senators concerned,” a source from the COA told The STAR.

Senate President Franklin Drilon has tasked the Office of the Senate Secretary to handle the funds of the three senators, who have been recently suspended by the Sandiganbayan due to plunder charges in connection with the pork barrel fund scam.

The COA is reportedly waiting for the Senate secretary’s guidelines on how the three senators’ funds should be accounted for while they remain under 90-day suspension.

The COA’s move came amid recommendations that the P18 million be “put on hold” until a final verdict has been issued on the plunder cases filed against Enrile, Estrada and Revilla in connection with the pork barel scam.

“There are no precedents on how this particular budget should be treated whether it can actually be spent or put into savings and dispensed with by the Senate by yearend,” a Senate officer said.

Besides monitoring, the COA remains strict against the old practice of issuing certifications as mere instruments of disbursement of cash of each senator.

Because of the stringent measures, the COA noted that some senators have resorted to “direct payment” schemes with regard to their offices’ respective expenses.

The Senate has supposedly made as a policy the submission of itemized audits for their expenses, instead of the traditional issuance of “mere certification” issued by senators.

Estrada, Enrile and Revilla are facing 90-day suspension, barring them from receiving salaries, filing any measures and conducting any act in supposed pursuant of their duties as senators. As such, they cannot touch the allocations given to their offices.

Drilon, however, earlier said that the salaries and benefits of the employees of the three senators’ offices would not be suspended.

Estrada, Enrile and Revilla are also prevented from making cash advances since they might be able to tap their budgets while suspended from office, the source added.

The suspension orders, which would last until December, are related to the plunder cases filed before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel scam.

Based on the previous COA report, each senator could tap between P40 million to P60 million every year for their salaries, benefits, travel expenses, rentals for offices, professional or consultancy fees, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses as well as other miscellaneous and operating expenditures.

The funds vary from regular senators to those handling top posts such as Senate President, Senate President pro-tempore, and majority and minority leaders.

Each senator also gets a uniform amount of P2 million for chairmanship of the various Senate committees, as well as benefits as members of the Commission on Appointments.