Gov't told to run after officials who illegally spent P4.8 B

Government was told to run after its officers and employees who had spent P4.8 billion in public money , expenses which the Commission on Audit later disallowed and must thus be returned to the public coffers.

Called in audit parlance as "disallowances," these illegal disbursements must be recovered by the government , Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said.

"Government must insist on refunds because it needs the money and to show that breach in spending rules is not allowed, " Zubiri said.

Based on documents it submitted to the Senate , the Commission on Audit has reported that as of Dec. 31 , 2006 P4.788 billion worth of expenditures was disallowed as it did not conform with laws and regulations.

"I understand that notices have been sent to concerned personnel . And if they refuse, then the appropriate administrative and criminal charges should be pursued, " Zubiri said.

Zubiri said the P4.8 billion in disallowances covers national government agencies only and did not include similar reported infractions in the GOCC sector and local governments.

The disallowances were discovered in routine COA audits which check if expenditures made by accountable officers are covered by legal authorizations .

Bulk of the disallowances came from departments in the executive branch with a total of P4.472 billion. In contrast , the legislative and judicial branches posted disallowances of P20,000 and P794,000.

Some P142 .2 million in disallowances was attributed to personnel of constitutional offices with the Commission on Elections accounting for P140.7 million, and the Audit and Civil Service commissions having less than a million pesos each.

The P4.8 billion in disallowances is only a fraction "of the bigger universe of government receivables which include unliquidated releases, cash advances, grants, donations ."

"But while an unliquidated cash advance , for example, would mean that no report has been made on how the money was spent , meaning it could just be a delay in the submission of receipts and the like, a disallowance carries with it the ruling that the money was spent not in accordance with the law, " Zubiri said.

By departments , the top ten in officers and employees with disallowances are DoF (P1.89 B), DPWH (P1.05 B), DILG (P248 M), DepEd (P229 M), DA (P217 M), state colleges and universities (P176 M), DoH ( P176 M), DOTC (P91 M) , DENR (P79 M).

DoF is expected to top the list, Zubiri explained, because it controls city, municipal and provincial treasurers , "officers which handle funds and are subjected to rigorous audit."