Senate tells COA to audit CDC's 2009 expenses

Senator Franklin Drilon on Thursday asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct a special audit of Clark Development Corporation's (CDC) extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses last year. In Thursday's Senate inquiry, it was revealed that the CDC spent at least P10 million in "extraordinary expenses" which was liquidated by way of "certifications." Drilon, who heads the Senate finance committee, explained that "certifications" supposedly prove that the funds have been spent although no receipts are submitted in support of the expenses. "If it is not part of [official's] compensation, then liquidate it properly. These are not intelligence funds and therefore a certification should not be the basis of liquidation," he said. CDC chief executive officer Benigno Ricafort, however, denied that the P10 million was part of the P14-million compensation package he supposedly received in 2009. Former CDC president Liberato Laus also denied that he received almost P11 million in compensation from the state firm in 2008. "That is not correct," Laus said. He said his compensation was just P1.4 million, plus P158,000 as director of CDC, P156,000 in representation allowances, and transportation allowances, among others. Laus explained that the COA mistakenly included CDC's P8.9-million intelligence fund in his compensation. However, COA representative Jaime Naranjo said that the state auditor included this fund in Laus' compensation package because the money was at his disposal. COA listed Laus as one of the highest paid executives of government-owned and -controlled corporations in 2008 and 2007 while Ricafort as one of the highest paid state firm executives in 2009. —JE, GMANews.TV