DAVAO CITY—Mayor Sara Duterte said COVID-19 restrictions and the implementation of strict community quarantine had prevented the city from making a physical inventory of at least P9.48 billion worth of assets being questioned by the Commission on Audit (COA).
Duterte said the city government had already sufficiently detailed in its report the existence of these assets but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the actual count “was impossible,” she said in a statement released to the media.
She said that this was among the key issues deliberated during the COA exit conference last February at city hall.
“The COA observations with corresponding recommendations were among the key issues deliberated upon during the COA Exit Conference held on February 23, 2021, at the City Hall of the City Government of Davao,” the mayor said in a statement.
“During the conference, the city government sufficiently expounded on its earlier-submitted written comment and justification,” Duterte said.
“The General Services Office undertook to submit compliance on or before February 28 of the current year but physical/actual counting was not possible,” she added.
“These matters arose because of the COVID-19 community quarantine restrictions and the strict constraints brought about by the COVID-19 regulations prohibiting gatherings and meetings as well as the implementation of other alternative work arrangements,” the mayor said.
COA flagged the Davao city government for its failure to provide adequate disclosures on the property, plan and equipment accounts of some P9.48 billio—or 40 per cent of its P23.66 billion total assets—recorded as of the end of December 2020.