COA, solons want AFP’s hands off UN funds

Officials from the House of Representatives and the Commission on Audit (C0A) said military funds from the United Nations should not be coursed directly to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s bank accounts. The officials issued this statement days after a former state auditor bared alleged irregularities in the handling of these funds. Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, chairperson of the House committee on national defense and security, said reimbursements from the United Nations should be coursed to the national treasury and not to directly the military’s coffers. “How do we consider these UN reimbursable funds? Isn’t it in the nature of government funds and should be audited by the COA?" he said in a congressional inquiry on the UN funds on Wednesday. Biazon, himself a former AFP chief, added that an executive order issued as early as 1996 by then President Fidel Ramos already directs the military to deposit such cash balances to government coffers. The investigation was prompted by revelations made by former state auditor Heidi Mendoza that part of United Nations reimbursements for Filipino peacekeepers sent to other countries such as East Timor, Haiti and Liberia could no longer be traced. Mendoza said former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, with whom the government entered into a controversial plea bargaining deal last year, allegedly authorized the transfer of P200 million worth of UN funds to questionable bank accounts. COA Director Rizalina Mutia likewise said depositing UN reimbursements directly to AFP bank accounts does not follow proper government auditing procedures. “The practice of releasing UN reimbursements directly to the AFP instead of to the national treasury is not in accordance with existing government accounting and auditing procedures," she said in the same hearing. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez Jr. meanwhile said Congress should call on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to ensure that no transfers of UN funds are made directly to the AFP. “[The DFA] is the agency representing the government in relation with dealing with the United Nations... This money has been going illegally to the [military] and not to the treasury," he said. – VVP, GMA News