Catanduanes execs’ appeal on disallowed P14.8M intel/confidential expenses junked

CATANDUANES Gov. Joseph Cua and five other provincial government officials have failed to persuade the Commission on Audit to lift the Notice of Disallowance (ND) issued against the P14.8 million expenditure on intelligence and confidential activities in 2012 and 2013.

The COA en banc denied the appeal filed by the provincial officials and upheld the position of the Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Unit (ICFAU) that the expense item was invalid because the local government failed to make appropriations for Peace and Order Programs (POPs) on both years.

“In this case, the Annual Budget of the Province for CYs 2012 and 2013 did not indicate any amount appropriated for POP. It can be presumed that the province did not see the need for utilizing funds for intelligence purposes,” the commission said.

The ruling was signed by COA Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario G. Lipana.

They pointed out that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 99-65 issued on April 23, 1999 required that there should be a budget appropriation for POP if the LGU considers it a priority.

Without a POP allocation, the COA noted that there is no way to determine whether the LGU’s intelligence and confidential fund (ICF) was computed based on the 30 percent of the POP funds or on the three percent of the Annual Appropriations, whichever is lower.

In the Notice of Disallowance issued on January 30, 2015, those who were held liable were Governor Joseph Cua, provincial accountant Sonia Villaluna, treasurer Julieta Tasarra, OIC budget officer Nena Guerrero, budget officer Lucito Pastor, and executive assistant Antonio Pena.

In their appeal, the LGU officials explained that the absence of POP appropriation was because it was already integrated in the Community Public Safety Plan which is funded out of the 20 percent Development Fund, Calamity Fund, and Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).

The COA, however, said the planation offered cannot be given weight since what the law requires is a “specific allocation for POPs in the annual budget, not the funds pooled from regular appropriations.”

“Accordi