Will COA finally audit the Philippine Red Cross?
The Commission on Audit (COA) is said to be checking where the Philippine Red Cross used the funds of Senator Richard Gordon from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
According to President Rodrigo Duterte, the senator had put more than P80 million under the humanitarian organization that the state auditors could not find.
He added that he has already ordered the Office of the Solicitor General advising COA to start the investigation on missing funds.
“Ang gusto kong malaman kasi yung pera ng 86 I think o 88 million na PDAF mo, sinali mo doon sa pera ng — you comingled it, gikurambos (pinag-sama sama) mo, tawag diyan sa Bisaya,” the president said during his recent Talk to the People.
He said that only the COA could find the funds that’s why he instructed the head of the commission to look for the allegedly missing funds.
Duterte stressed that COA should comply citing the provision in the Constitution which mandates COA to conduct an audit and find the money.
Aside from the missing funds, it will also try to look at how the senator allegedly used the Red Cross facility for his personal interest.
The Red Cross receives government funding from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office but allegedly did not declare where and how it was used so it is among those to be investigated by the COA.
The president and the senator have been exchanging words over the past weeks since the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee started to investigate former Presidential economic adviser Michael Yang and former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao for the allegedly anomalous procurement of overpriced pandemic supplies.
As of posting, Gordon has yet to issue any statement regarding the latest tirade of Duterte.
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