Hold pay of govt workers with P2.4-B unpaid cash advances— Ombudsman

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez asked nine government agencies to withhold the salaries of their respective officers and employees who have yet to liquidate cash advances totaling to about P2.4 billion. In a statement, Gutierrez said she sent letter-reminders to nine agencies as part of her duty to "determine the causes of inefficiency, red tape, mismanagement, fraud and corruption and the observance of high standards of ethics and efficiency." The nine agencies are: the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Elections(Comelec), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Department of National Defense (DND), the Bureau of Customs (BoC), the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), and the National Police Commission (Napolcom). The list below shows the "unliquidated" cash advances in the nine agencies: DepEd - P1,614,449,595.32 Comelec - P406,029,645.99 PNP - P313,272,983.64 BJMP - P18,205,473. 04 BI - P9,886,764.02 DND - P6,329,521.34 BOC - P392,655.87 PPA - P368,487.67 NAPOLCOM - P226,889.05 Total - 2,369,162,015.94 Apart from withholding their salaries, the government workers who still will not liquidate their cash advances could face criminal charges for violation of Presidential Decree 1445 or Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, as well as Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code or Malversation ofPublic Funds and Art 218 of the RPC or Failure of Accountable Officer to Render Accounts. Administratively, the officers and employees could also be held liable for Gross Neglect of Duty and Dishonesty. Under Commission on Audit (COA) Circular 97-002, cash advances must be liquidated as follows: * Salaries, wages etc. – five days after each 15 day/end of the month pay period * Petty operating expenses and field operating expenses – within 20 days after the end of the year; subject to replenishment as frequently and as necessary during the year; * Official travel – within 60 days after returning to the Philippines for foreign travel or within 30 days after returning to his permanent official station for local travel; * Intelligence and confidential funds for national and corporate sectors – within one month from the date the purpose of the cash advance was accomplished. Meanwhile, COA Circular 2003-002 requires government officials handling projects that are expected to last for more than a month to file monthly progress liquidation reports a month after the project started. Gutierrez said her office is still studying the financial documents of other agencies to determine if they also have unliquidated cash advances. –VVP, GMANews.TV