Provincial Accountant Merly   Fortu   yesterday said the Commission on Audit 2012 findings released recently, showing that P1.4 billion in property and equipment of the Negros Occidental provincial government have not fully been reconciled and balanced, does not mean that an anomaly has been committed.

She said it has been caused by a new COA policy requiring the province to balance accumulated depreciation of properties from the time the provincial government began to exist in 1898.

It is very difficult to reconcile assets that existed long before we were born, she said.

Fortu said she suggested to the auditor that the assets to be reconciled be limited to a certain timeframe to be more realistic.

In its report, the COA said that despite several adjustments made in its accounts in 2012, the province of Negros Occidental was still unable to fully reconcile, identify, and properly classify balances of asset accounts totalling P1,495,603,639.22, that made the validity of 24.74 percent of the total assets recorded in its book of accounts doubtful.

Fortu also said that unliquidated cash advances of Capitol employees of P6 million in 2011 have been reduced to less than P1 million.

She said this was after the provincial government implemented an offsetting policy where those with unliquidated cash advances have to work without pay until they had settled their accounts.*CPG

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