Four Philippine foreign service posts received a combined $188,444.38 in overseas voting funds from the Commission on Elections and had not submitted supporting documents despite repeated follow-ups, the Commission on Audit found. According to the Daily Tribune's Jerod Orcullo, the audit covers $4.17 million that Comelec sent to 93 foreign service posts (FSPs) in 2025.
The findings
Per the Tribune, the four non-submitting posts are the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taichung and Taipei, the Philippine Consulate General in Xiamen and the Philippine Embassy in London. Four other posts, which received $71,602.72, submitted incomplete documents. Twenty-three FSPs filed liquidation papers after the required 120 working days, and 13 had insufficient proof that excess funds were remitted, so their final fund use was questioned.
Auditors faulted the Department of Foreign Affairs Overseas Voting Secretariat for forwarding incomplete records to Comelec without checking them first. Some posts also moved money between expense items to cover election costs where allocations fell short. Officials attributed the delays to weak monitoring, inconsistent submissions and conflicting provisions in the memoranda of agreement on liquidation reports, the Tribune reported.
What went right
To be fair, the report is not all bad. COA commended the timely remittance of $2.23 million in excess funds, and 80 posts returned unused money after some overseas voters shifted to online voting, which cut travel costs and left some planned activities undone.
What we don't know
The Tribune's article carries no statement from Comelec or the DFA. It does not say what the $188,444.38 was spent on, whether any of it has been recovered, or whether COA has recommended sanctions. The report states there were repeated follow-ups, but not how many or over what period. Missing paperwork is not proof of missing money; it does mean no one can currently show where it went.
Context
Government funds sent to agencies and posts must be liquidated with documentation. Here, the check that should have caught the gaps, the DFA secretariat's review before passing records to Comelec, was reportedly skipped, according to COA as summarized by the Tribune. The overseas voting program is meant to let Filipinos abroad vote; when its accounting is this loose, the program's integrity is a fair question.
Sources
- Daily Tribune, Jerod Orcullo, "State audit uncovers liquidation issues in overseas voting expenses," Oct. 7, 2026 — https://tribune.net.ph/2026/10/07/state-audit-uncovers-liquidation-issues-in-overseas-voting-expenses