CoA flags Comelec over P6.1 billion in unliquidated cash advances

The Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over P6.134 billion in cash advances granted to its officers in 2023 — including some who are no longer in service — despite their failure to settle or liquidate previous advances from the prior year.

A review of Comelec's accounts revealed that 1,429 accountable officers received cash advances by the end of 2023, with Region IV accounting for the largest portion at P718.7 million.

State auditors emphasized that granting these cash advances, despite the officers' failure to fully or partially liquidate previous ones, violated Section 89 of the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines and Section 4.1.2 of CoA Circular No. 97-002. Both regulations explicitly state that no additional cash advances shall be allowed unless previous funds are fully settled.

"Granting of the additional cash advances with different purposes from the previous cash advances resulted in the accumulation of cash advances which is contrary to the cited CoA Circular and an indication of lack of proper monitoring and weak internal control in the granting, utilization, and liquidation of cash advances," the auditing body stated.

CoA also flagged Comelec for granting cash advances amounting to P5.741 billion for the payment of allowances, honoraria, and other similar expenses in gross amounts. This is contrary to CoA Circular No. 97-002, which stipulates that cash advances should only equal the net payroll amount for a pay period and must be supported by a list of payees and their respective net payments.

Additionally, Comelec incurred overpayments of salaries, overtime, and other benefits totaling P6.98 million in 2023 — a significant reduction from the P12.16 million recorded in 2022.

Comelec’s accounting division informed CoA that an analysis and reconciliation of the accounts involved is ongoing, including retrieving pertinent documents to support the overpayments and issuing demand letters to concerned individuals.

However, CoA countered that Comelec must adopt measures to intensify the collection of overpayments from the employees concerned and ensure that any excess overtime pay is refunded in full.