16.2 A perusal of the supporting documents of the cash advances under the Confidential
Funds (CF), however, showed that the Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) drew the
said cash advances, covering the requirements for implementation of projects and
activities within six months beyond the limit set by the above provision, as
indicated in the corresponding Transmittal Letters, detailed as follows:
Amount of Cash
Date Period
Advance
January 8, 2024 January to June 2024 ₱2,000,000.00
July 23, 2024 July to December 2024 2,000,000.00
Total for CY 2024 ₱4,000,000.00
16.3 It was also noted that the physical targets and matching budgetary amounts of the
respective Physical and Financial Plan supporting each of the cash advances were
exactly the same. Only the semesters indicated and dates changed. The attached
Obligation Requests also showed that the cash advance's purpose is confidential.
16.4 In view of the foregoing, the controls installed in the grant, utilization, and
liquidation of cash advances for Confidential Expenses were disregarded.
16.5 We recommended that, henceforth, Management shall only draw cash
advances for Confidential Expenses to cover projects to be implemented
within a three-month period. If the implementation is more than three
months, an additional cash advance shall be drawn, after the liquidation of
the prior cash advance.
16.6 We further recommended that Management prepare a Physical and Financial
Plan, indicating physical targets and corresponding budgets quarterly, in
accordance with COA-DBM-DILG-GCG-DND Joint Circular No. 2015-01,
dated January 8, 2015.
16.7 The City Mayor explained that they drew cash advances for confidential expenses
covering six months, to avoid frequent travels to Quezon City for liquidation.
Instead of traveling four times a year, they would only travel twice. However, they
would implement the recommendation in accordance with the Circular cited.
Certificate of Availability of Funds not secured from the Accountant – ₱109,328,343.75
17. Procurement contracts entered into by the City Government, and disbursements
related thereto, amounting to at least ₱109,328,343.75, were incurred without the
required Certificate of Availability of Funds (CAF) from the Chief Accountant,
contrary to Section 86 of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1445, thereby rendering the
validity and legality of the transactions questionable.
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