DICT asked to review P2.69B fund transfers

THE Commission on Audit has asked the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to review and explain unliquidated fund transfers totaling P2.694 billion made by its predecessor agencies to the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC).

Auditors clarified that the transactions were not made by the current DICT but by the now defunct Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) which accounted for P2.55 billion and the National Computer Center (NCC) whose transactions totaled P142.47 million.

The DICT management, in reply to the audit observation, directed the Finance Service Director to convene all the project implementing units with fund transfers to the PITC and to require them to submit all records of the transactions with breakdown of delivered goods and services, as well as pending ones.

It also agreed with the COA’s recommendation to coordinate with the PITC to reconcile their records and ensure full delivery and liquidation of fund transfers considering the number of years since the sums were advanced.

The 2022 audit on DICT was released by the COA on November 6 and is accessible online on the commission’s official website.

Responsibility over the fund transfers was absorbed by the DICT after the functions of the NCC and the ICTO were merged under it.

“FTs (fund transfers) to PITC for the procurement of goods and services amounting to P2,693,743,999.39 aging five to 11 years are without details thus, casting doubt as to their existence and validity,” the audit team said.

More troubling is the confirmation by the PITC that based on its books, there was only P1.617 billion in balance, which means a variance of P1.077 billion that would have to be accounted for.

The COA said the variance includes deliveries already made by the PITC, which have not been recorded in DICT’s books due to the absence of a certification from implementing units acknowledging receipt.

Unless explained and liquidated in full, the COA said the P2.694 billion would continue to appear in DICT’s books as undelivered or uncompleted projects.

“The existence of these outstanding balances implies the non-delivery and non-materialization or