MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has questioned the validity of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO)’s procurement of P3.31 million worth of office supplies due to a lack of supporting documents.
“Claims against government fund totaling P3,310,414.42 were paid without proper documentation, thus, propriety, validity and legality of the claims cannot be ascertained,” COA said in its 2022 annual audit report on PAO.
The COA said the audit team’s review of PAO’s disbursement vouchers for 2022 showed that the agency had 15 payment transactions totaling P3.31 million for the supposed delivery of various office equipment and supplies.
The audit body, however, said the payments were not supported by official receipts, sales invoices and delivery receipts.
Among the purchased items were air-conditioning units, ink tanks, power generator, computer hard disks, computer printers, closed-circuit television cameras, office chairs and tables, filing cabinets, furniture and fixtures, water dispenser, copier machine parts and various law books.
The suppliers of the items were not identified in the audit report.
COA said PAO officials agreed to submit the required documents for the purchases.
Source: The Philippine Star | July 10, 2023 | 12:00am
