By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Jan. 31, 2014 at 12:01am
BILLIONS OF cash advances dating back to 10 or
15 years ago have remained unliquidated until today, Audit chairman Maria
Grace Pulido- Tan said on Thursday.
Revelations. Audit chairman Maria Gracia Pulido Tan (right) and SEC chief Teresita Herbosa reveal that billions in state funds remain unsettled or wasted on fraud at the resumption of the Senate blue ribbon probe of the pork barrel scam. Left panel shows senators Edgardo Juan Angara, TG Guingona and Paulo Benigno Aquino taking their turns to ask questions. EY ACASIO
One agency alone could have piled up around P1 billion in
unliquidated cash advances, Tan said at yesterday’s Senate Blue Ribbon
hearing on the alleged pork barrel scam.
Tan did not name the agencies that have yet to settle their
fund releases. She said that under the law, the money would be presumed to be
“malversed” since the agencies failed to liquidate on time and on demand.
She was replying to a question posed by Senator Paulo
Benigno Aquino, presidential cousin, on cash advances by government
corporations.
“ How long have they not been liquidated?”
Aquino asked Tan.
“Sir, 10 years or 15 years,” replied Tan.
“Fifteen years and they’re not yet paid? And you’re putting
together this list and you will file criminal charges against these officials
whether they’re currently there or they’re out of office?” further questioned
the Liberal Party senator.
When Aquino asked Tan when do they plan to file the charges,
she said they are giving those agencies involved two months to comply with the
liquidation requirements.
Some of the unexplained cash releases, she said, actually
went to non-government organizations (NGOs).
Aquino sought a review of the total amount
involved and for how long these amount have not been liquidated.
Blue Ribbon committee chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona
described as “revealing” Tan’s disclosure on the unliquidated
funds.
Tan told the senate hearing that when she came to know about
the unliquidated cash advances two years ago, she caused the
issuance of final demand letter to all concerned government agencies.
“We told them to do something about it and even published
that in the newspaper,” she told the senators.
She said there is a provision of criminal law that when
somebody is given a cash advance and he was not able to liquidate it within the
prescribed period and within demand, “there is already a presumption in law
that that money was malversed.”
She said the COA has the list of individuals and
organizations that have not liquidated.
She said COA was going through documents so that
appropriate charges could be filed against those responsible. The COA Fraud
Audit and Investigation Office will file these cases after the lapse of two
months.
In the same hearing, SEC chairman Teresita Herbosa had
complained that the lack of resources had prevented them to immediately
detect “fraud” in the registration of alleged bogus
NGOs with links to pork barrel scam suspect Janet
Lim-Napoles.
Napoles remains in jail at the Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta.
Rosa, Laguna, after being charged with plunder before the Office of the
Ombudsman.
Herbosa said SEC looked into the NGOs that were used
as conduits of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund when the
P10-billion pork barrel scandal broke out.
She said they only rely on the documents submitted to them.
Herbosa said, they could still detect “certain batches of
fraud” simply based on the application being submitted to their office.
Herbosa said the corporate and governance and finance
department has only eight examiners assigned to process 10,000 active
foundations.
She said one examiner handles as many as
200 corporations when the ideal ratio is at least 54 processors
instead of eight.
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