COA Calls Out P30.4-M Discrepancy in Bacoor City’s Property Records

BACOOR CITY, Cavite – The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Bacoor City government for a P30.43-million discrepancy between its accounting and property records of Property, Plant, and Equipment (PPE) as of December 31, 2023, due to its failure to comply with mandated one-time cleansing procedures under COA Circular No. 2020-006.

In its 2023 annual audit report, COA noted that the city government had not undertaken the required steps to verify and reconcile its PPE account balances, thereby casting doubt on the accuracy and existence of the reported P6.55 billion worth of PPE assets, excluding Construction in Progress.

The variance was identified following a comparison between figures per books and those per Report of Physical Count of PPE (RPCPPE). The major components of the discrepancy include a negative variance of P988,737.97 in Buildings and Public Infrastructures and a positive variance of P31.12 million in Transportation Equipment.

COA emphasized that the city’s failure to conduct the one-time cleansing of PPE accounts hindered the reliability of its financial records, which should reflect assets that are verifiable in terms of existence, condition, and accountability.

According to the report, both the City General Services Office (CGSO) and City Accounting Office (CAO) confirmed that they had not employed the procedures prescribed in COA Circular No. 2020-006. The CGSO said it requested the formation of an Inventory Committee in October 2023, but the City Administrator had not created the committee by year-end.

“The existence of the discrepancy… and the fact that the City has not availed the one-time opportunity to cleanse its PPE balances following COA Circular No. 2020-006 impair the accuracy and verifiability” of its reported PPE assets, COA said.

The audit body recommended that the City Mayor immediately initiate the cleansing of PPE balances using the six prescribed activities, which include inventory preparation, physical counting, reconciliation of records, and proper accounting disclosures.

In response, city management committed to implement the one-time PPE cleansing within calendar year 2024.