COA orders Malabon: Settle P41.8-M cash advances

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered the Malabon City government to settle more than P41.8 million in unliquidated cash advances as of December 2012.

According to a report released over the weekend, P21.2 million of the unliquidated cash advances were made in 2012 while over P20.6 million represented unsettled advances from previous years, dating as far back as 1990, granted to city officers who have either retired, resigned, died or whose whereabouts have become unknown.

One of the biggest unliquidated advances was made by special disbursing officer Elena Miguel, who received P4 million in May 2011, another P4 million in May 2012 and P16.64 million in September last year from intelligence funds, according to the COA.

Among the older accounts, former executive assistant Ruel Tamayo received the highest amount in unliquidated advances, totaling P6.8 million, from 2002 to 2004. Records show that he received two advances in 2002, 10 in 2003 and seven in 2004.

The COA list also includes a P200,000 advance received by then city councilor Benjamin Galauran in October 2002.

State auditors said the city’s officials did not provide the city auditor’s office with documents that prove they required “concerned accountable officers to render full accounting and settlement of long outstanding cash advances being reflected as assets in the financial statements of the city for several years.”

The COA report noted that the lack of proper accounting and liquidation affected the reliability and fairness of presentation of the balances of affected asset, expense and equity accounts in the locality’s financial statements.

Malabon officials told the COA they are acting on the matter, and that one former disbursing officer with an outstanding cash advance of over P2 million is facing an administrative case.

They said the city legal office will file charges against seven officials who ignored orders for them to settle P10 million in cash advances that were unliquidated as of Dec. 31, 2011.