After clarifying some issues pertaining to its 2015 financial statement, the Commission on Audit (COA) once again declared the National Electrification Administration (NEA) as compliant with government transparency standards.
The NEA was rendered an unqualified opinion for calendar years 2015 and 2016 based on the latest COA Independent Auditor’s Report (IAR). This enabled the agency to keep its reputable standing among state-owned corporations.
Administrator Edgardo Masongsong welcomed this development especially since the NEA espouses absolute honesty as one of its corporate values. “We appreciate this opinion by COA and rightly so because we are building on the best practices of the former administration,” he said.
“As we continue to advocate good public governance, trust that the NEA and the 121 electric cooperatives nationwide will remain assiduous in carrying out their collective mandate to stay on par with our state auditors’ expectations,” Masongsong added.
The agency tasked to implement total rural electrification in the Philippines failed to secure a clear audit finding last year after COA found a significant variance amounting to P12.110 billion in its 2015 financial statement.
The figure stemmed from the P20.247-billion balance of the NEA based on Bureau of Treasury (BTr) records minus the P8.137-billion year-end balance of account posted by the agency representing national government (NG) advances on its foreign loans between 1971 to 1989.
Upon further assessment, however, COA said the NEA already recorded the unbooked interest on NG advances amounting to P6.499 billion and reversed the entry made for the Foreign Currency Adjustment of Prior Years amounting to P3.500-billion.
“Further, BTr reversed in its books the amount of P2.111 billion representing maintenance of value risk. Accordingly, our present opinion on the 2015 financial statements is no longer qualified concerning this matter,” COA said in its IAR.
The report signed by OIC Supervising Auditor Glorina Suson covered the transactions, accounts and operations of the NEA for 2016 to determine the level of assurance that may be placed on the management’s assertions on its financial performance.
Also considered was the propriety of the transactions as well as its adherence to the existing rules, regulations and policies of the organization, and the extent of the implementation of prior year’s audit recommendations.