DND vehicles flagged by CoA

The Commission on Audit, or CoA, has flagged the donation of over P41.6 million worth of vehicles to the Department of National Defense that were not supported by deeds of donation.

The CoA said the DND received donations of vehicles from government and non-government organizations to help in its mandate to safeguard the country against internal and external threats.

The in-kind donations included three unbranded 48-seater buses worth P4 million each and 23 Maxus MPV seven-seater vans valued at P1,890,000 apiece. The DND also received a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Toyota Lexus LX470.

Most of the vehicles were donated on 18 April 2022. Overall, the CoA said the DND received 34 vehicles with a total value of P41,694,800.

The audit findings revealed that while the vehicles were recorded in the DND's books of accounts as a result of the One-Time Cleansing of PPE (Property, Plant and Equipment) and the Report on Physical Count PPE at year-end 2022, proper recording was not made due to the non-submission of deeds of donation and other relevant documents, such as the recognition of the motor vehicles as donations.

State auditors said the unsupported recording of donations in kind ran counter to Sections 14 and 26, Chapter 5 of the Government Accounting Manual for National Government Agencies, Volume I, which mandates recognizing and measuring gifts, donations, and goods in kind.

CoA said the DND should instruct its chief supply accountable office to promptly submit copies of all the deeds of donation to the accounting division.

The DND informed the auditors that donated properties were recognized in the books of accounts as part of the PPEs since they were classified as "Found at station" during the one-time cleansing.

Meanwhile, the supply accountable office said copies of the pertinent documents were already furnished to the accounting division for proper recording, except for the Lexus LX470 and the Toyota Land Cruiser.

"The documents submitted were copies of the Transfer Certificate and Protocol between the DND and the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China for two 48-seater buses and 15 7-seater minivans," the DND said.