am_p-09-2598_2009

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC A.M. No. P-09-2598 February 12, 2009 (Formerly A.M. No. 08-3-65-MCTC) REPORT ON THE FINANCIAL AUDIT CONDUCTED IN THE MCTC-MADDELA, QUIRINO Per Curiam: This administrative case arose from a letter dated 19 May 2006 of Hon. Josephine B. Gayagay, then Acting Presiding Judge of the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC), Maddela-Nagtipunan, Quirino, addressed to the Court Administrator, informing the Court of the continuous absence without leave (AWOL) of Mrs. Francisca B. Dueñas, Clerk of Court II, of the same court, since 19 April 2006. Also, Judge Gayagay requested an immediate audit of Mrs. Dueñas's accountabilities since no report of her financial transactions have been submitted since 2005. On 14 March 2007, the First Division of this Court issued a Resolution dropping Mrs. Dueñas from the rolls and declaring her position vacant, thus: It appearing from the records that Ms. Francisca B. Dueñas failed to submit her daily time records (DTRs)/bundy cards since April 2006 up to present and did not file any application for leave, the Court resolves: (1) to DROP Ms. Francisca B. Dueñas from the rolls effective 19 April 2006 for having been on Absence Without Official Leave [AWOL] since said date pursuant to Sec. 63, Rule XVI of the Omnibus Rules on Leave, as amended by Resolution No. 99-1885 dated August 23, 1999; (2) to INFORM Ms. Dueñas of her separation from the service at the address appearing on her 201 file, that is, Diduyon, Maddela, Quirino; and (3) to declare her position as Clerk of Court VACANT.

On 26 June 2006, Deputy Court Administrator Jose P. Perez confirmed the designation of Mrs. Evelyn P. Cadavis, Court Interpreter I, as Officer-in-Charge effective 19 April 2006. A checklist of requirements dated 16 June 2006 was sent to Mrs. Dueñas, along with a directive for her to submit the documents needed to update her records as an accountable officer of the MCTC. Accordingly, a financial audit team was formed to examine all the records/documents for all funds of the MCTC for the period 1 January 1997 up to 31 January 2007.

During the internal control evaluation, the financial audit team asked for summation of the duties and responsibilities of the personnel involved in the collection and disbursement of funds of the MCTC. In her compliance, Mrs. Cadavis informed the team that after her designation as Officer-in-Charge, she only issued receipts for the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF) and Special Allowance for the Judiciary Fund (SAJF) collections. The cash bonds for the Fiduciary Fund were duly deposited with and receipted by the Municipal Treasurer's Office of Maddela, Quirino.

No disbursement/withdrawal of collections was made from the Fiduciary Fund during Mrs. Cadavis's period of accountability, from 19 April 2006 up to 31 January 2007. Based on the documents presented, the financial audit team submitted the following report on the result of the audit it conducted on the books of accounts of Mrs. Dueñas (for the period 1 January 1997 to 18 April 2006) and Mrs. Cadavis (for the period 19 April 2006 to 31 January 2007): A. Cash Count Examination As of examination date, the court has unremittted collections amounting to One Hundred Pesos (₱100.00) broken down to these funds: a) Judiciary Development Fund - ₱19.20; and b) Special allowance for the Judiciary Fund - ₱80.80. Both amounts were deposited to their respective accounts on 5 March 2007.

B. Missing Booklets of Official Receipts The inventory of used and unused official receipts revealed that two (2) booklets of official receipts remain unaccounted. The following official receipts were not presented to the team as of audit date, to wit: SERIAL NUMBERS FUND USED PERIOD COVERED 17509251-300 JDF 1/7/03-1/28/03 12883201-250 Fiduciary Fund 2/20/01-2/21/06 The following official receipts were unused as of cash count examination: SERIAL NUMBERS QUANTITY 4912601-4913000 7 booklets 4913601-4914000 8 booklets 4912571-4912600 30 pcs. 4913561-4913600 40 pcs.

TOTAL 15 bklts. & 70 pcs. It was observed that aside from the official receipts requisitioned from the Property Division, [Office of the Court Administrator (OCA)], the court also made use of twenty (20) booklets of official receipts from the Municipal Treasurer's Office for JDF and SAJF collections covering the period February 2005 to January 2006.

Also, one (1) booklet bearing serial numbers 4912901-4912950 was borrowed and properly turned-over to the Regional Trial Court, Maddela, Quirino. C. JUDICIARY DEVELOPMENT FUND Mrs. Dueñas (1/1/97 to 4/18/06) Total Collections ₱ 135,241.90 Less: Total Remittances 131,033.40 Shortage