This has reference to the article published yesterday, 3 November 2014, on the front page of the Manila Standard Today relative to "Top Executives" in the Aquino Administration who allegedly "owe" the Commission on Audit (COA) billions of pesos of public funds, based on the 2013 COA Annual Financial Report. In particular, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is said to be ranked fifth, having a total of P617.44 Million Unliquidated Cash Advances.

This is to inform the public that, as of this date, nearly all Unliquidated Cash Advances in the Department of Justice-OSEC Proper have already been liquidated. These include Cash Advances pertaining to Confidential Fund, such as those pertaining to the Witness Protection Program (WPP), that were already submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA) and are awaiting Credit Advice from COA-Central Office.

In the interest of full transparency, the only Unliquidated Cash Advances for FY 2013 are as follows: (a) P470,000.00 used by the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution (OADR) during its anniversary celebration last December 2013; and (b) the P420,000.00 used by the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) in its operations. Both are now being processed for liquidation.

The COA Resident Auditor can attest to the foregoing facts.