The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) defended itself Sunday in an issued statement claiming it has properly accounted for the usage of donated money from specific entities after certain officials called for the audit of its dealings with the government.
PRC stated on September 12 that all government donations to the humanitarian group had been “faithfully accounted for.”
It defended further that the Commission on Audit (COA) had not made any negative findings regarding the use of funds donated to them by the government.
“As previously stated by the Philippine Red Cross, the humanitarian organization is the recipient of some donations from agencies of the Philippine government. The Philippine Red Cross has faithfully accounted for the use of such funds in compliance with the donor agencies’ liquidation and reportorial requirements. These government agencies, in turn, are subject to annual audit by the Commission on Audit,” the PRC said the statement.
“To date, there has not been any adverse finding on any transaction whereby government funds were given to the Philippine Red Cross,” it added.
The PRC stated that President Rodrigo Duterte, who threatened to halt all government transactions with them on September 11 if Sen. Richard Gordon does not release their records for auditing, may verify with the concerned agencies about the money they contributed.
“Reports of these donations may be obtained by the Office of the President directly from these government agencies, and audits on these government agencies, if any, may be secured from the Commission on Audit,” the PRC said.
Earlier, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo stated that if the COA does not have the power to audit the PRC, the government may petition the court to force it to turn over its financial data.
He warned that the PRC would be liable if it fails to provide its financial records and that it would be an infraction if it did not do so within five years.
Gordon chairs the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which is looking into the government’s alleged shady acquisition of COVID-19 supplies worth billions of pesos last year.