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CoA tells Peping: Liquidate P74M in government assistance for '05 SEAG


MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (CoA) has given the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (Philsoc) a 15-day ultimatum to liquidate over P74-million the body received from the government in staging the SEA Games in 2005. In a decision dated March 9, State Auditor V Mario G. Lipana, asserted that the Philsoc, the body formed to handle the hosting, have to clear up P74,634,507.50 in financial assistance (FA), otherwise, the CoA would take legal action. The amount was part of the P167 million support that the Philsoc got from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to get the 2005 SEA Games rolling. Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, Jr., who also headed the Philsoc, had earlier explained that the Philsoc “has no accountability and no unliquidated advances with the PSC because it had already turned over sporting equipment amounting to P99,011,903.21 in relation with a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the PSC." The CoA, however, discovered that the PSC issued a check on July 31, 2005 amounting to P100 million to Philippine National Bank to be used by the Philsoc in opening Letters of Credit (LCs) for the procurement of competition and venue equipments. It was also found that the said P100 million was never recorded in the PSC books as a financial assistance to the Philsoc but as a loan. “Verification of the MOA which is the basis of the Philsoc's claim that they do not have unliquidated financial assistance…showed that the sporting equipment of the twenty six (26) sports disciplines in the total amount of P99,011,903.31 were purchased through the use of LCs, which was made possible through a deposit of P100 million to PNB by PSC for the procurement of competition and venue equipment," wrote Lipana. According to the CoA, the Philsoc has received P167,634,507.50 in all from the PSC as financial assistance (FA) which was used as operational fund. But the money that was used to purchase the sporting equipment came from the P100M loan by PSC, and thus, CoA explained, the Philsoc is “wrong in saying that they don’t need to liquidate because they turned over the said sporting equipments." In the CoA’s books, the Philsoc managed to liquidate P93 million, thus a balance of P74,634,507.50. “The assertion of Philsoc is without merit, unacceptable and cannot be given due course, thus the unliquidated FA amounting to P74,634,507.50 will remain outstanding in the books of the agency unless an acceptable liquidation documents will be presented to the agency," said Lipana. Failure to liquidate, warned Lipana, will result to COA taking legal action against Philsoc. Cojuangco’s camp, though remained firm on their stand. “Sinagot na namin sila (CoA) noon but if the COA sees it differently, an audit conference should take place to review and clarify the matter," Cojuangco’s spokesman Joey Romasanta said. The CoA order was made public at the height of the POC's ongoing spat with PSC chairman Harry Angping, and Romasanta could not help but tie this to the row. Cojuangco’s group had sought Angping’s ouster and severed ties with the government sports agency's boss. “Curiously, all these things are coming out while Mr. Cojuangco is out of the country to attend an Olympic Council of Asia meeting," Romasanta said. -GMANews.TV
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