The Office of the Vice President (OVP) emphasized on Thursday that state auditors did not attribute any misconduct to the agency as it reacted to the release of the Commission on Audit’s (COA) 2024 findings. The clarification came as Vice President Sara Duterte’s office pointed to COA’s issuance of an unmodified opinion on its financial statements, a rating that affirms the records were prepared “fairly in all material aspects.”
Before the audit report was finalized, OVP officials met with COA on May 16, 2025, for an exit conference that tackled the observations and recommended corrective actions. The agency later stressed that the concerns raised were procedural matters rather than issues of fund misuse. “The OVP highlights that there were no findings of loss or wastage of government funds or property in the audit, and all issues raised were primarily administrative in nature and management agreed to implement all corresponding recommendations to address the observations for [Calendar Year] 2024,” it said.
According to the OVP, COA’s evaluation contained “no finding of wrongdoing,” a point it underscored while noting that the agency had accepted all recommendations meant to improve compliance moving forward.
One of the items flagged in the audit involved the liquidation status of grants under the Mag Negosyo Ta ‘Day (MTD) livelihood assistance program. COA reported that by May 7, 2025, 14 of the 31 releases had been fully accounted for, while 11 were returned to beneficiaries for further requirements and six had yet to be settled.
Auditors also observed adjustments in the OVP’s operational spending and staffing. Travel expenditures went down to P34.42 million in 2024 from P42.77 million the previous year. The number of personnel assigned to the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group likewise declined, dropping to 335 in 2024 from 443 in 2023 and 433 in 2022.
