Where are purchase records on medicine, state auditors ask

State auditors questioned the availability of P54.2 million of government supplies and equipment due to the absence of an inventory report detailing its purchase.

The supplies include P43.7 million worth of drugs and medicines given to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and P10.5 million worth of properties and equipment assigned to the General Services Office (GSO).

“It is difficult to match actual quantities on hand against accounting records because of the long period in which no inventory had been conducted,” city auditors said in their report last year.

Auditors said the absence of an inventory report violates Section 124 of the Manual on the New Government Accounting System for Local Government Units.

The provision requires the local chief executive to require a periodic physical inventory of government supplies and properties and submit an inventory report to COA every July 31 and January 31 of each year.

“Physical inventory is a procedure that is being undertaken to ascertain the existence of assets and to determine the validity of the balance of these assets reflected in the book of accounts,” the audit report stated.

It said the results of the physical count are to be reconciled with the accounting records  in cases where discrepancies arise.

Auditors said the CCMC had a P43.7 million balance in their drugs and medicines supplies as of December 31, 2012.

Of that amount, P37.6 million worth of these supplies were assigned to four officers.

However, they could not determine the availability of these supplies because of the absence of an inventory report.

The accounting and pharmacy divisions of CCMC were directed to conduct an immediate inventory of all its supplies and to reconcile their supplies record to determine the cause and people responsible for the discrepancy in their records.

Auditors said the inventory should be done on a quarterly basis and personnel should be assigned to perform that task. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac