Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21) — The Commission on Audit has flagged the travel expenses of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for 2018.
In its annual audit report, auditors called out airplane tickets purchased by the OSG for foreign travel amounting to more than P7 million. The tickets were supposedly purchased without supporting documents.
Under COA Circular 2012-001, such purchases should be supported with complete documentation, in this case quotations from three travel agencies.
“Audit of the disbursement vouchers and its supporting document revealed that foreign travel amounting to P7.128,374.84 lacked the three quotations while some purchases were not supported by abstract of quotations,” the report stated.
Some officials were also allowed to reimburse their plane tickets without the price quotation attached to their claims.
Auditors directed OSG management to make sure all required documents are attached before payment of claims or reimbursements.
It was noted in the report that the management submitted documents to support the three quotations for the airfare and insurance expenses during the exit conference.
These will be reviewed by the COA and if found invalid, a notice of disallowance will be issued requiring the OSG to return the funds used for the flagged expenses.
In a previous report, auditors also flagged Solicitor General Jose Calida for receiving excess allowances in 2017 amounting to P7.4 million.
