Comelec: We’ll square away P3.2B in advances

Comelec office. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has assured the Commission on Audit (COA) that it is prepared to liquidate the P3.2 billion in cash advances its officials and employees took out in 2013.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body has coordinated with the government agencies it worked with in 2013 for them to account for the cash advances.

“The bulk of the cash advances went to the deputized agencies during the elections and we have already sent letters to the agencies involved to liquidate,” said Jimenez.

He said the Comelec has updated the COA on the actions it has undertaken since the report came out.

According to retired Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes, there was nothing unusual about the unaccounted for cash advances as it usually happened during an election year.

“Usually after elections, like in 2013, the amount of unliquidated cash advances increases because there were a lot of expenses,” said Brillantes, who was poll chief in 2013.

Earlier, the COA said that in its annual examination of the poll body’s finances the unliquidated cash advances of Comelec officials and personnel went up by more than 700 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year.–Tina G. Santos