THE Department of Tourism yesterday said it has directed its regional offices and concerned personnel to respond to the Commission on Audit findings of “irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, and uncon-scionable” expenses incurred in 2021 under the previous administration.
In a statement, the DOT said: “In light of the Department of Tourism (DOT) transactions flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its 2021 Annual Audit Report (AAR) of the Department, the current DOT leadership has immediately instructed the concerned DOT offices and units to offer their full cooperation and compliance to the COA through the submission of the required documentations relating to the said trans-actions.”
“Notwithstanding the fact that the involved transactions transpired during the term of former Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, the DOT’s cur-rent administration maintains that the transactions flagged by COA must be properly addressed by the accountable persons and offices involved as transparency and accountability in the affairs of the Department is a firm commitment of the current dispensation,” it added.
Government auditors have asked the DOT and its regional officials to justify a P3.84 million expenditure for accommodations and meals in five-star hotels and resorts, cancelled reservations that were still paid, travel expenses, mobile phone and internet bills, and cash assistance to a private organization.
The COA has broken down the expenses to P1.534 million released by the Office of the Secretary as financial assistance to Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), a private organization, but this was charged against the DOT’s budget allocation for foreign trips.
Also questioned was the P697,854 spent by DOT-Region 1 Office dur-ing the Ridge and Reef Travel Corridor launch on October 19 to 22, 2020 during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conferences and out-of-town activities by the DOT were also found to have exceeded the allowable amount under Executive order No. 77 by P449,150 for accommodations and P95,300 for meals.
The auditors also said the list of DOT officials and employees who joined the presidential visit in Boracay and the PATA Virtual Adventure Travel Conference were not submitted together with the disbursement vouchers.
The COA required the DOT OSec and the regional offices concerned to submit documents to show the validity and regularity of the questioned transactions., “otherwise, demand full refund of the amounts considered as irregular, unnecessary, unconscionable, excessive, and extravagant in nature.”
