The Commission on Audit has flagged the Bureau of Corrections over advances on payroll accounts amounting to P28.393 million, which had remained unliquidated as of the end of 2022.

 State auditors attributed the irregularities to the P10.259 million misclassification of cash advances, the P29.232 million double recording of liquidation reports, and the inclusion of a negative subsidiary ledger balance of P23.512 million.

 According to the CoA, the balance of the advances for the payroll account as of 31 December 2022 amounting to P31.914 million could not be ascertained owing to "unreliable" and "misstated advances for payroll."

 "The lapses during the tenure of BuCor chief Gerald Bantag "decreased the total balance of the account and the existence of SL captioned as Development Bank of the Philippines, amounting to P2.564 million," CoA said.

 The audit findings revealed that P28.393 million in cash advances  remained unliquidated despite its purposes being served, and an additional CA was granted notwithstanding the non-liquidation of previous CAs.

 The CoA noted that multiple CAs for salaries and allowances of new BuCor officers and trainees were awarded to accountable officers, despite the fact that their previous CAs had  not been liquidated.

 Auditors said this ran counter to the Government Accounting Manual for National Government Agencies which mandates that "advances for payroll shall be granted to regular disbursing officers for payment of salaries, wages, honoraria, allowances, and other personnel benefits of officials and employees."

 It said liquidation of the advances shall be made within five days after the end of the pay period, and any unclaimed salaries or allowances shall be refunded with an official receipt to close the account.

 "Unliquidated CAs can lead to financial risks such as misappropriation of funds. Timely liquidation of CAs reduces these risks by ensuring that expenses are properly documented, recorded, and accounted for," the CoA said.

 The auditing body said that the observations indicated BuCor's "weak internal control."

 The CoA, nonetheless, told BuCor to direct its accounting division to prepare and affect the necessary adjusting entries on the misclassified accounts and the double recording of liquidation reports.

 The CoA also said it should analyze the negative SL balance and effect necessary adjustments, if warranted, as well as reclassify the SL of DBP to the SL of the appropriate AO.

 The BuCor should also demand that the AOs concerned immediately liquidate their outstanding CAs that were  overdue, refund any excess CA balances, and cease granting additional CAs to AOs with unliquidated CAs.

In response, BuCor informed CoA that extensive analysis and verification had been done and that necessary adjustments had already been made by its accounting division regarding the unliquidated CAs.

 It likewise prepared the necessary adjustments to journal entries for the misclassification of cash.

On the double recording of liquidation reports, BuCor said this was due to a technical error and the immediate transfer of accounting staff in charge of the transactions.

However, it said that the necessary adjusting entries had already been prepared.