Senators Probe Limits of Commission on Audit's Confidential Fund Review

SENATORS on Wednesday questioned the Commission on Audit’s (CoA) process for reviewing agencies’ compliance with rules on confidential funds, after a former state auditor testified that the agency does not verify the identities of fund recipients. On the 13th day of Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial, former CoA auditor Roderick C. Wamil said auditors focus on whether agencies comply with the requirements of Joint Circular 2015-01 and rely on documents submitted by the offices being audited. “The circular is silent as to that matter,” Mr. Wamil told Senator Erwin T. Tulfo when asked whether CoA verifies the identities of people named in acknowledgment receipts. “The focus of our audit is the compliance audit.” Mr. Tulfo also asked why CoA had not referred suspicious details in the Office of the Vice-President’s (OVP) confidential fund disbursements to the Office of the Ombudsman. Mr. Wamil said CoA may refer an agency to the Ombudsman after it has complied with the audit body’s final orders, such as notices of disallowance. He said he had already left CoA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office when an order involving the OVP was issued. Mr. Wamil served as a CoA state auditor from September 2014 to February 2024. Senator Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson questioned the agency’s reliance on documentary reviews, suggesting that the rules might need to be amended. “Why are you limited to paper audits? Don’t you have physical audits?” Mr. Lacson asked. “How would you know if the one signing the acknowledgment receipts is a legitimate person if you cannot determine if the person behind the alias is a real person?” Mr. Wamil said official receipts and other supporting documents are the basis for verifying expenditures. He noted, however, that the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) mainly submitted acknowledgment receipts. He said an acknowledgment receipt serves as proof that a recipient received payment, while an official receipt shows that an agency made a purchase from a seller. Mr. Wamil testified on article I of the impeachment complaint, which accuses Ms. Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds, including P500 million from the OVP and P112.5 million from DepEd. He said the documents submitted by Ms. Duterte’s offices showed noncompliance with the audit rules because of a lack of supporting evidence demonstrating the success of payments. Mr. Wamil also said it was unusual for agencies with confidential and intelligence funds to provide medicines to informants as payment for information. “This is the first time with the OVP,” he said in response to Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros-Baraquel. Prosecutors have presented documents showing that the OVP used P82 million for medicine and food assistance, which they said are disallowed expenses under government auditing rules. Another CoA auditor, Xylene Del Campo, later took the witness stand and said DepEd had confidential funds during Ms. Duterte’s tenure as Education secretary. — K.P.B. Gabriel