COA readies team to inspect oil firms' books of accounts

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has started forming a team that will pore over the financial books of the "Big Three" oil firms. But COA Chairman Reynaldo Villar admitted Wednesday they couldn’t get the work started until they receive the order to do so from Manila Judge Silvino Pampilo Jr. "We will, immediately after we receive the order, go over the books of the oil companies. We will immediately form a team to conduct an audit on the records of the oil companies," Villar said in an interview on dzXL radio. Without the order, he said, the team couldn't obtain the financial records, much less review them. "Unless we secure an order from the court we will not be able to open the books of accounts of oil companies ... The moment we receive the order we will immediately form the team to audit," he said. Villar said that if the COA finds basis of the accusations that the three giant oil firms overpriced their products, it could recommend for refund to all consumers affected by the overprice. He said this is similar to the order to Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) to refund customers it overcharged by about P3 billion. "(We can recommend that they) effect the necessary refund if that will be the result of the audit," he said. On Tuesday, Pampilo ordered several government agencies to form a panel of examiners that would look into the records of Pilipinas Shell, Chevron (formerly Caltex Philippines) and Petron. The panel would include representatives from the COA, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs. The team has been ordered to examine cash receipts, cash disbursement books, purchase orders for petroleum products, delivery receipts, sales invoices and other documents related to the purchase of petroleum products by the three firms from January 2003 to December 2003. The judge gave the panel three months to submit a report to the court. Last week, Pampilo ordered the so-called ‘Big Three’ to open their books for investigation following a complaint by the a lawyer’s group Social Justice Society. - GMANews.TV