Imee Marcos: I never got COA memo

Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos denied on Saturday that she received the audit observation memorandum of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the cash advances made by the provincial government in 2012.

“Fake news,” Marcos said at a press conference on Saturday in Quezon City.

Citing COA documents, the audit memo said that the provincial government under Marcos’ leadership had used cash advances to pay for P26-million worth of various supplies and services such as medicines, fertilizer, sculptures and construction services.

House inquiry

This was the same method applied in the provincial government’s controversial P66-million purchase of vehicles in 2011.

The 2011 acquisition of mini trucks, minicabs and buses has been the subject of an ongoing House inquiry initiated by Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas.

The House has detained six provincial officials for refusing to answer the solons’ questions during a hearing.

In the memorandum dated Jan. 8, 2013, the COA said that by using cash advances, the Ilocos Norte officials did not comply with auditing rules, thus “exposing the money to possible misappropriation.”

The five procurement deals made from July to December 2012 and paid with cash advances included a deal of over P2 million for the marble busts of Marcos’ father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and other historical figures.

Cash advances for medicines and fertilizers distributed to several towns were also made.

But Marcos insisted that the 2013 memorandum never reached her office.

‘Proof of the pudding’

“It was admitted by COA that it was never given to us,” she said, adding:

“We never received it because they said it (cash advance) was already OK since it has been liquidated and explained thoroughly.”

The governor said that she first heard about the document during the inquiry of the House.

“It never occurred in the final audit report and that is the proof of the pudding,” she said. “It’s just an observation.”

Marcos’ camp also urged the Supreme Court to swiftly act on its petition to release the so-called “Ilocos 6” from detention in the Batasang Pambansa.