COA cited Santander for finance deficiencies

CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has cited multiple financial management deficiencies in the Municipality of Santander in its 2024 Annual Audit Report, including misclassified payroll expenses, delayed release of barangay shares from real property tax (RPT) collections, and long-idle fund transfers totaling millions of pesos.

In its 2024 annual audit report, COA found that salaries and wages of 75 job order (JO) workers amounting to ?1.6 million were not properly recorded under Other Maintenance and Operating Expenses (OMOE) and Repairs and Maintenance accounts but were instead listed under General Services accounts, contrary to International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

The audit also noted that payroll liquidations lacked duly verified accomplishment reports, making it impossible to ascertain the regularity of the disbursements.

Aside from this, the report further flagged the non-release of barangay shares from RPT proceeds totaling ?3.27 million, covering collections from 2011 to 2023.

The state auditors also said that these funds were not remitted quarterly as required under the Local Government Code, with some releases delayed by more than six months and others made only in July 2024. It further stressed that no RPT shares were released to barangays for 2024 as of November, depriving them of funds for priority projects.

In addition, COA reported ?1.29 million in unutilized fund transfers from the Provincial Government of Cebu, dating back as far as 2008, which remained unliquidated or unreturned.

It said that the prolonged idling of these funds was inconsistent with COA rules and deprived the source agency of resources for other priority programs.

In line with these findings, the state auditors recommended that the municipal government strictly follow proper account classifications, ensure payroll payments are supported by accomplishment reports, release barangay RPT shares quarterly, and coordinate with the provincial government to realign or return excess and unspent funds.

In the report, it was noted that municipal management agreed to implement the recommendations.