SC urged to resolve Luisita auditing woes

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Agrarian Reform has asked the Supreme Court to clarify and resolve the various issues regarding the special purpose audit it ordered on the financial records of of Hacienda Luisita  Inc. and Centennary Holdings Inc.

The DAR, through the Office of the Solicitor General, filed Tuesday afternoon a motion with the SC after a  recent impasse in the process to select a reputable accounting firm to conduct the special audit.

The move was also prompted by the disagreement among the parties in the Hacienda Luisita case on which firm should be selected, after a vote last May 17, disqualifying two of the three interested accounting firms.       

DAR Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes said the special audit on HLI and CHI cannot proceed unless all the parties involved in the case have agreed on the accounting firm that will undertake this task.

"We wish to put on record that it is the disagreement among parties concerned, and not the DAR, that is the cause of the delay in the audit process,” De los Reyes said, referring to the issue of  the gross proceeds arising from the conversion of two lots with an area of 500 hectares and the expropriation of a portion for SCTEX.

He noted that the SC  has ordered the DAR "to engage the services of a reputable accounting firm approved by the parties to audit the books of HLI and Centennary Holdings, Inc. to determine if the P1,330,511,500 proceeds of the sale of the three  lots were actually used or spent for legitimate corporate expenses.

"Any unspent or unused balance and any disallowed expenditures, as determined by the audit, shall be distributed to the 6,296 original FWBs ( farm worker-beneficiaries)."

Anthony Paruñgao, DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, said the department's role in the audit process is limited to facilitating the process leading to getting the services of an accounting firm approved by all the parties involved in the Hacienda Luisita case.

The parties concerned  include Hacienda Luisita Inc. and the various farmers’ organizations representing the farmers of the country’s biggest sugar estate, owned by the family of President Benigno Aquino III.

DAR records showed that three audit firms signified their intention to perform the special purpose audit--Reyes, Tacandong & Co., Ocampo; Mendoza, Leung, Lim; and San Agustin & Co.

De los Reyes said that despite the series of meetings and consultations, the parties  were unable to agree on what accounting firm the DAR should engage to audit the pertinent financial records of HLI and CHI. - Dennis Carcamo