The Commission on Audit (COA) has blamed Pampanga provincial officials for the loss in 2023 of P9.3 million worth of food products due to "insufficient controls in the safekeeping, custody, and warehousing."
In its 2023 annual audit report (AAR), COA disclosed that the province suffered a qualified theft incident sometime between Oct. 27 to Nov. 10, 2023 at the Pampanga Provincial Warehouse located at Barangay San Roque in Mexico town.
It said the officer-in-charge of the General Services Office (GSO) of Pampanga notified the audit team about the robbery incident through a letter dated Nov. 16, 2023 and even attached a copy of the Police Report dated Nov. 14, 2023. The reported stolen food items amounted to P9,326,146.
Stolen were 192 cavans of commercial rice worth P460,800; 2,702 cases of corned beef worth P5,187,840; and 1,388 cases of sardines worth P3,677,506, it also said.
Prior to the theft, the latest inventory report submitted to the COA for its 2023 annual audit report (AAR) revealed that the province had 9,302 cavans of commercial rice, 4,427 cases of corned beef, and 2,142 cases of sardines.
After the reported incident, the Nov. 15, 2023 inventory of the province showed 7,887 cavans of commercial rice, 451 cases of corned beef, and 142 cases of sardines, COA said.
When the audit team evaluated documents of the reported quantity of items lost and the current inventory, it discovered several "discrepancies." While 192 cavans of commercial rice were reported lost from the original 9,202 cavans, the latest inventory showed that only 7,887 cavans were left in the warehouse. This meant that there were 1,223 cavans that were unaccounted for, it said.
The same was true for the 2,702 cases of corned beef that were reported stolen from the original 4,427 cases. Only 451 cases were left in the latest inventory, which meant there were 1,274 cases that were unaccounted for, it also said.
Lastly, 1,388 cases of sardines were reported stolen from the original 2,142. However, only 142 were remaining in the latest inventory, which meant there were 612 cases that were unaccounted for, it added.
It noted that its audit team reported that the variances after the reported theft signified "doubtful, inaccurate, and unreliable balances on hand."
On Dec. 15, 2023, COA auditors conducted an inspection and found there were insufficient controls in the safekeeping, custody, and warehousing of the food items.
The auditors noted that there was a lack of closed-circuit television (CCTV) inside the warehouse, weak locks were installed instead of heavy-duty padlocks, and there were no stock cards accounting for the items inside the warehouse, it said.
COA also noted: "Review of documents and records also showed that the lost food supplies were still carried in the inventory, thus overstating the inventory account by at least the amount of reported loss. In addition, it is worth mentioning that as of date, no request for relief from accountability has been filed yet."
Thus, COA recommended that the province should beef up internal controls over all the inventories kept in its warehouse and install ample units of CCTVs in every area of the warehouse.
It also decided to review relevant documents on the robbery incident, including the province's own investigation on the matter in order to identify the parties that are accountable for the P9.3 million loss.