Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 18) — The Commission on Audit (COA) said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) illegally hired a private lawyer as a legal consultant.
In a report on the 2021 budget released last week, auditors said the move during the final year of Vice President Leni Robredo violated COA rules as the OVP lacked clearance from the COA and the Solicitor General.
The audit team added there was no reason for the OVP to hire a legal consultant as it had created a legal affairs division as part of its efforts to strengthen the office.
“In view of the lack of written conformity and acquiescence of the solicitor general and the written concurrence of COA, and despite having legal officers, payments made to the legal consultant are considered irregular and unnecessary expenditures,” COA said.
The OVP said the consultant worked as policy adviser as opposed to legal officers who do routine legal services such as drafting of review of contracts. It also said that it had asked the Office of the President for the creation of positions for policy advisers including a consultant.
The Office of the President apparently did not act upon the request so the OVP said it had to resort to a consultancy arrangement.
However, COA rejected the explanation, saying the salaries paid to the consultant from January 2020 to July 2021 shall be disallowed and those who approved the payments should be held liable for the disallowance.
The COA issued the notice of disallowance on April 2022 which is currently under appeal.
The OVP received an unqualified opinion for four years from 2018-2021. This is the highest audit rating given to a government agency.
COA previously clarified that an audit opinion is a statement that expresses whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance to the standards.
