The Commission on Audit (COA) has called out the Bureau of Treasury (BoT) over its purchase in 2022 of more than P5.24 million worth of grocery items which were distributed to its officials and employees despite lack of proper authorization.

In its audit report, COA said that the purchase of the grocery items "unnecessarily increased the Bureau's expenses” and the validity of the purchase had not been determined.

It said each BoT official and employee received 22 food items consisting of 25 kilograms of rice, 150 grams of pork sausages, a dozen tuna flakes, eight cans of luncheon meat, eight cans of Vienna sausage, six cans of corned beef, two 300ml of condensed milk, and a liter of vegetable oil, among other things.

It noted that the grocery items were worth P13,205 to P14,999.96 per pack.

COA said its auditors found that BoT’s Central Office and National Capital Region (NCR) office issued the Notice of Award to the winning bidder of the grocery items on Dec. 29, 2022. The Notice to Proceed dated Jan. 10, 2023 was confirmed to by the delivery of the supply on Jan. 13. Delivery of the grocery items was completed on Jan. 25. As of May 31, the COA said that the transactions have yet to be recognized in BoT’s books.

It said the basis for the procurement was the memorandum issued by the Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary on Dec. 5, 2022. The memorandum approved the BoT's request for the distribution of various food items as a reward for the personnel’s contributions and achievements in 2022.

"While we recognize the importance of the approval of the Secretary of Finance and likewise greatly acknowledge the valuable contributions of the Bureau's 2022 achievements, hard work, and dedication in carrying out its mandate despite the various challenges, still, the memorandum issued by the Secretary is not sufficient authority for the disbursements as the President's approval is explicitly required under Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 1597, series of 1987," COA said.

It cited Administrative Order (AO) No. 2 dated Dec. 16, 2022, which authorized the grant of one-time assistance at a uniform quantity of 25 kilograms of rice for each employee. But it said that instead of one sack of 25 kilogram of rice, the BoT granted four sacks of 25 kilograms of rice which was more than what was allowed in the AO.

"Overall, the disbursements made for the grant of additional benefits to the Bureau's personnel despite the absence of the necessary authority from the Office of the President (OP) had unnecessarily increased the Bureau's expenses and had not provided evidence to determine the validity and propriety of the expenses incurred," COA said.

It asked the BoT to submit a legal authority from the OP as basis for the grant of various grocery items and refrain from granting additional benefits or allowances to its employees without prior approval by the OP.