P22 million worth of travels of PDEA officials lack documents – COA

MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officials and employees spent P110 million in local travels in 2018, but state auditors found that P22.45 million of that amount lacked proper documentation.

The Commission on Audit (COA) said in its 2018 audit repot of PDEA that P22.45 million worth of transactions for local travels lacked documents like travel order, duly approved itinerary, transport proof like tickets and boarding passes, certificate of appearance, certification by the head of the agency as to the absolute necessity of the expense, and certificate of travel completed.

The COA told PDEA to "submit to the audit team the documentary requirements of the transactions amounting to P22,451,403.48."

The COA also found there were other transactions worth P51.8 million that had no receipts, but were still paid to claimants.

"The incomplete documentation of the transactions, aside from non-adherence to existing rules and regulations, rendered difficulty in ascertaining the propriety, necessity, and validity of the transactions," COA said.

State auditors said the lack of documentation violates Presidential Decree No. 1445 and COA Circular No. 2012-001, which lists the requirements for common government transactions.

COA has recommended for "cashier to require the claimants to submit the official receipts for the received payments and refrain from payment without complete documentation of the previous ones." – Rappler.com