(Updated @ 4:00 a.m., Aug. 25, 2021)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The Commission on Audit (COA) under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III flagged unliquidated cash advances and transfers to various projects amounting to more than P7.6 billion in the Department of Justice (DOJ), then under Leila de Lima, who is now a senator, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), then headed by Mar Roxas.
President Rodrigo Duterte brought up the supposed findings on Tuesday during his taped weekly televised briefing.
According to Duterte, the DOJ unliquidated cash advances, incurred in 2013, totaled P617.44 million, and the DILG fund transfers, made in 2014, totaled P7 billion.
The DOJ had denied it had over P600 million in unliquidated cash advances.
搁贰础顿:听DOJ denies it has P600 million in unliquidated cash advances
Meanwhile, it was under a 2013 COA report where the DILG under Roxas was flagged for P7.040 billion unliquidated fund transfers 鈥渄ue to non-monitoring of liquidations and submission of financial reports.鈥�
搁贰础顿:听UNA hits Roxas for P7-B unliquidated DILG fund transfers
Roxas鈥檚 camp then explained that the funds were unliquidated as the projects were still being implemented.
The president compared these findings to the 鈥渄eficiencies鈥� that COA found in the use of COVID-19 funds of the聽 Department of Health under Secretary Francisco Duque III.
鈥淚to kay Duque nag-bili e. Ito, nag cash advance, nag-bale,鈥� Duterte said. 鈥淪abihin ninyo ngayon, ito kay De Lima ang pinakamaingay鈥gayon si De Lima maingay, sige nga, mag ingay ka nga ngayon.鈥�
[Translation: 鈥淚n the case of Duque, it was for purchases. This one [under Aquino] were cash advances.鈥漖
Earlier, Duterte brushed off the possibility of corruption being behind the DOH 鈥渄eficiencies,鈥� saying it would be 鈥渋mpossible鈥� for anyone to steal P67.3 billion.
The DOH has made an assurance that it was addressing the deficiencies marked by COA.