MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has directed several Sandiganbayan officials to submit missing paperwork for ₱11.8 million in cash advances utilized for official foreign trips throughout 2025.
According to the state auditor’s 2025 report, the funds—allocated for travels to the United States, Australia, Hungary, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Qatar—lacked the necessary documentation needed to verify their validity and necessity.
“The granting and liquidation of Cas (cash advances) for official foreign travels of SB officials and employees for CY 2025, totaling to ₱11,869,847.98, were not fully supported with complete documentary requirements,” the COA report read.
State auditors noted that this compliance failure blocked proper validation. Specifically, COA flagged ₱621,783 worth of roundtrip airfares linked to three justices who flew to Budapest, Hungary, for a special course on artificial intelligence in criminal law.
The audit team discovered discrepancies between the submitted records for the Budapest mission, where billing statements indicated premium economy bookings while boarding passes displayed business class seating.
Although officials reportedly covered the extra cost out-of-pocket for upgrading their seats, COA stressed that the arrangement lacked proper paperwork, leaving a roughly ₱77,000 price gap unexplained.
“The validity of roundtrip airfare claims amounting to ₱621,783 cannot be ascertained as within the allowable airfare rates prescribed for foreign travels of officials,” the report added.
“Such uncertainty could have been avoided had the requests for cash advances for the subject travels been supported by complete and documentary requirements, including airfare quotations, detailed flight itineraries, and fare class specifications, which would have enabled prior verification of the reasonableness, economy, and compliance of the airfare with prescribed travel guidelines before approval and disbursement,” it noted.
To resolve the issue, COA has formally recommended that the Sandiganbayan management immediately provide all required documentation to clear the flagged travel expenses.