MANILA, Philippines -- The Philippine Army denied allegations they have “unliquidated cash advances” of P1.6 billion, claiming Bayan Muna (People First) Representative Satur Ocampo was “highly misinformed.”

Earlier, quoting a Commission on Audit (COA) report, Ocampo said the Army accumulated the cash advances from 2003 until 2007 during the terms of past Army commanders Efren Abu, (with P997,449,222.85 unliquidated cash advances after his term), Generoso Senga (with P103,518,451.64), Hermogenes Esperon Jr. (with P69,845,067.14), Romeo Tolentino (with P90,071,624.52), and current Armed Forces chief of Staff General Alexander Yano (with P335,640,052.18).

But at a press conference, Army chief Major General Reynaldo B. Mapagu dismissed Ocampo’s statement as “grossly inaccurate” since his report merely totaled the unliquidated cash advances of each Army commander during his term.

“In the accounting process, that is wrong,” said Colonel Oscar Lopez, chief of the Army’s Management and Fiscal Office, who said the unliquidated advances should be carried over to the budget of the succeeding term.

Mapagu defended past Army commanders, saying that the “accountabilities” being questioned must be declared liabilities of the entire institution and should not be solely attributed to the service chiefs or to incumbent officers and employees.

He added that the Army had cleared its records with the COA last January and held an executive briefing with the auditors wherein it was found that the Army had P335 million unliquidated cash advances.

Mapagu said that they were able to explain each item on the COA’s report during the executive briefing and the Army had also submitted a written explanation for its expenses.

Citing the records of the Accounting Services Philippine Army (ASPA), Mapagu said that as of February this year, the service arm has already spent 77 percent of its unliquidated cash advances on payroll funds, while cash advances granted to officers and employees have also been liquidated.

Mapagu added that the Army strictly implements the provisions of Commission on Audit Circular 97-002 which states “No cash advance shall be granted unless the previous cash advance is fully liquidated.”

As of August 31, 2008, the total unliquidated cash advances for payroll and travel expenses of the army has been reduced to some P40 million. Mapagu said P24 million of the said amount were “inactive accounts,” meaning the officials concerned may have already retired or have died.

These “inactive accounts” will have to be adjudicated by a board for [these] to be written off, Mapagu said.

The ASPA has been continuously tracking active personnel with accountabilities, Mapagu said.

“Our ASPA is continuously sending demand letters, through the Army Personnel Management Center, to personnel with accountabilities. The said office is exerting all efforts to find ways and means to locate the present status and assignment of transferred [or] reassigned personnel to other AFP units to oblige them to immediately settle their accountabilities,” Mapagu said.

The remaining P16 million unliquidated cash advances represent mostly the three-month subsistence allowances of militiamen, which was granted in December 2007.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Pedro S. Soria II, chief of the Army Resource Management Office, said Ocampo’s records may have been based on the January 2008 COA report, in which the Army declared P335 million in unliquidated cash advances.

Ocampo’s records may have also included other unrecognized balances like the P888 million paid to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management in 2003 for the payment of for Army and Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit personnel, Soria said.

Soria explained that the P888 million must not be included in the audit since the Army has already paid the amount although they cannot declare the amount liquidated since they have not yet received all the supplies they ordered.

“Mahirap mag-speculate [It’s hard to speculate]…siya nakakaalam ng motibo niya [he knows his motives],” Mapagu said when asked what he thought the motive was behind Ocampo’s accusations.

Nevertheless, Mapagu said that they have no fears within the command that the allegations made by Ocampo will affect the 2009 budget allocation for the Army.

“We can explain everything and in the budget hearing, we can defend everything,” Mapagu said.