The Commission on Audit (CoA) has flagged the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) for the delayed liquidation of millions of pesos in livelihood aid, along with documentation gaps in grants extended to civil society organizations.

In its 2025 Annual Audit Report, the state auditing body said P2.055 million in livelihood assistance under the OVP's Mag Negosyo Ta 'Day program, granted to 137 beneficiaries, remained unliquidated as of Dec. 31, 2025. Submission of the corresponding liquidation documents was delayed by nine to 156 days beyond the prescribed period. Liquidation documents are the primary record of how government-granted funds were actually spent, and filing them on time is what allows auditors to verify that public money served its intended purpose.

"This indicated weakness in monitoring and follow-up mechanisms and reduced assurance that the grants were utilized for their intended purposes," CoA said.

State auditors likewise uncovered documentation deficiencies in P3.3 million worth of grants awarded under the same program to 22 civil society organizations. Project proposals lacked required feasibility study details, notarized affidavits were missing, and technical or financial evaluations were not properly documented. Such requirements are the safeguards meant to establish, before funds are released, that grantees can realistically deliver their proposed projects.

"These gaps reduced assurance that appropriate evaluation procedures and documentary controls were consistently implemented," the commission said.

The audit also pointed to weaknesses in the OVP's monitoring of social service programs, including the distribution of PagbaBAGo bags and food packs under the Relief for Indigents and Individuals in Crises and Emergencies program. CoA found incomplete or missing master files and acknowledgment receipts, including documents that lacked the required signatures. The transmittal of Request and Issue Slips between satellite offices and consolidating divisions, meanwhile, was delayed by one to 446 days.

"These deficiencies reduced assurance on the completeness, reliability, and verifiability of relief distribution records and weakened controls over Relief Operations," the audit report said.

Auditors additionally noted discrepancies between the OVP's situational reports and data from local government units during disaster relief operations, the issuance of mission orders without specified limits, and beneficiary distribution lists that had not been verified.

The OVP concurred with the audit findings and agreed to implement the recommended corrective measures. These include sending demand letters to beneficiaries who failed to comply with liquidation requirements, revising proposal templates, and enforcing stricter reporting deadlines across its satellite offices.

Despite the findings, CoA issued an unmodified opinion on the fairness of the OVP's financial statements for calendar year 2025. An unmodified opinion is the commission's cleanest audit rating and addresses the fairness of the financial statements themselves, separate from the operational and documentation findings raised in the same report.

Office of the President

In a separate report, the commission commended Office of the President (OP) for tapping its Special Purpose Contingency Fund to support the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan 2020-2040, while calling for improvements in project monitoring and financial reporting.

CoA said the agency needed to strengthen its mechanisms for projects implemented through fund transfers and improve the corresponding financial reporting. It recommended closer coordination between the OP's Engineering Office and Finance Office to ensure timely project completion and accurate financial records.

Auditors further called for the reclassification of P35 million worth of completed structures that remained recorded under construction accounts. The OP's management agreed to make the necessary adjusting entries, according to the report.

The commission also reported that the OP achieved a 100% accomplishment rate across its primary performance indicators, covering oversight, advisory, legal, legislative, and presidential executive staff service programs.

CoA noted that the OP had resolved seven of the nine audit recommendations carried over from the previous fiscal year, a tracking practice that keeps agency commitments on record and subjects them to review in succeeding annual audit reports. The agency also committed to submitting its Gender and Development plan earlier to allow sufficient time for review and endorsement by the Philippine Commission on Women.

The commission likewise rendered an unmodified opinion on the OP's 2025 financial statements, indicating that they were fairly presented, in all material respects, under the applicable financial reporting framework.

— Pexcel John Bacon, BusinessWorld

Source: BusinessWorld