Gov’t seeks full audit of PVAO’s P4B cash deposit

MANILA, Philippines – The government wants full audit of close to P4 billion cash deposit of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO).

During Tuesday’s hearing of the Senate finance committee, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad revealed that they discovered some P3.9 billion in cash deposit by PVAO supposedly for its retirees and pensioners.

That was the reason why, Abad said, there was a sharp decrease in the allocation given to PVAO this year.

“They ought to be submitting to us the roster of pensioners because one of the things we discovered this year for example is that they have a P3.9 billion cash deposit in their bank accounts,” he told the committee, responding to queries by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

“So we asked them what is that fund for? What is it used for? We suspect that’s part of unutilized pensions that have been left with them,” Abad said.

He said the original amount was P5 billion but it has gone down to P3.9 billion.

Asked by Senator Franklin Drilon how long the money has been in the banks, Abad said that it was “an accumulation through time.”

On Trillanes’ prodding, Abad sought the help of the committee to allow a full audit of the list of PVAO pensioners.

“If you can help us with PVAO submitting to us the list of pensioners so that we can fully audit the list of pensioners so we know to what extent do we really need to fund the pension system,” he said.