The failure of the municipality of Calayan in Cagayan to deposit P2.142 million in its local treasury as of Dec. 31, 2023 deprived the local government unit of the immediate use of funds for its priority programs and projects.
Worse, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in its 2023 annual report that "the funds may have been lost or misappropriated."
The report stated that cash should have been deposited to the town's depository bank and the fact that the funds ramained undeposited violated Sections 2, 69 and 105 of the Presidential Decree No. 1445, the Government Auditing Code.
The COA said that Calayan was able to remit and deposit P800,005.16 to its authorized government depository bank. This brought down the balance of P2,942,122.77 in 2022 to P2,142,117.61 in 2023.
The P2.142 million consisted of General Fund (P798,490.43), Special Education Fund (P1,340,606.38), and Trust Fund (P3,020.80) which represented unremitted and undeposited collections of various accountable officers from previous years, it said.
It also said that the town's treasurer has committed since 2020 to submit the list of accountable officers with unremitted collections. However, the municipal treasurer has not submitted the said list to the COA.
"It was found that there were no demand letters issued to the concerned accountable officers for the immediate remittance/deposit of their collections," the COA said.
"The said collections, which remained undeposited for several years, raise doubt on the existence, reliability and accuracy of the recorded balance of the Cash-Local Treasury account. This also indicates that funds may have been lost or misappropriated," it pointed out.
State auditors warned that accountable officers may be held criminally liable for malversation of public funds under Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code.
The COA then asked the Calayan town officials to take immediate action and issue demand letters to the concerned accountable officers for the immediate remittance/deposit of the P2.142 million to the authorized government depository bank of the LGU.
"Exhaust all possible legal remedies to collect from the concerned accountable officers the total amount reported under Cash in Local Treasury account," it stressed.