THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) denied reports that some P74 million in domestic travel expenses were insufficiently documented after the Commission on Audit (CoA) flagged the agency.

In a statement released Friday, PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino said that the documents supporting P22.45 million in travel expenses had already been submitted to the commission by the agency through its Finance service last May.

According to CoA’s 2018 annual report, the PDEA had P110.82 million in domestic travel expenses but eight of the domestic vouchers (DVs) and liquidation reports pertaining to the P22.45 million had insufficient documentation such as office/travel orders, approved itineraries, tickets, and boarding passes, among others.

The PDEA also clarified the report of the state auditor which said that 101 DVs worth P51.83 million were submitted but were not supported with official receipts. It said the DVs refer to various suppliers paid by the agency but which were under the LDDAP (List of Due and Demandable Accounts Payable), a bank transaction mode of payment that replaced the old check payment system in line with COA rules.

“We are adhering to all COA rules and regulations, however, pagkabayad naming sa suppliers through bank deposits, hindi na sila nagbibigay ng official receipts (after payment to suppliers through bank deposits, they no longer give official receipts,” Mr. Aquino was quoted as saying in the PDEA statement.

The statement said that Mr. Aquino had, on several occasions, asked COA to “reconsider check issuance as a mode of payment to make sure that PDEA will be issued Official Receipt upon releae of payment.”

PDEA said it asked it suppliers to immediately issue the official receipts which were lacking. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas

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