Iloilo Capitol goats ‘missing’

By: Gerome Dalipe

WHERE did the eight British domestic goats called Anglo-Nubian raised by the Iloilo Provincial Agriculture’s Office go?

Eight of 31 Anglo-Nubians off-springs could not be accounted for, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Likewise, 14 off-springs produced from November 2015 to August 2017 remained valued at P1,000 without subjecting them to appraisal in order to update their current fair value, the Monthly Breeding Stock Inventory for May 2018 showed.

This practice ran contrast to COA Circular 1984-239 (Rules and Regulation on Settlement of Accounts), the auditors said.

“Thus, understating breeding stocks and gains on initial recognition of biological assets and exposing these assets to the risk that accountability on the loss may not be properly imposed,” read the COA report.

The Philippine Public Sector Accounting Standards 27 defines biological assets and provides guidelines on its recognition and measurement. A biological asset is a living animal or plant.

During the inspection, the project-in-charge presented the Breeding Stocks Inventory Report for May 2018.

Of the 31 Anglo-Nubians, 17 goat breeds were part of the batch transferred l from Cebu, while 14 were off-springs.

On the other hand, two of the goats died in June 2018 prior to the date of inspection, leaving a balance of 29 goats as of June 5, 2018.

The ocular inspection also showed that the animals were allowed to freely graze in the vicinity of the farm. The project in-charge assigned job orders to gather all the goats in their respective goat house to ease the process of physical inventory.

Contrary to the presented report, however, there were 37 Anglo-Nubian goats found in the vicinity.

About eight off-springs did not have the assigned ear tag numbers and were not included in the inventory report.

The project in-charge said these off-springs were not immediately included in the report because of the risk that they will have difficulty in adapting to the environment and existing weather conditions.

Paragraph 1.5 of COA Circular 1984-238 provides that all other animals and animal products produced shall be reported in the daily production and sales.

“Since there was no record/recognition of these off-springs, any loss may not be monitored, hence proper accountability against the project-in-charge may not be imposed,” read the COA report.

Likewise, the auditors scored the project in-charge for failing to appraise and update the fair value of breeding stocks.

To note, breeding stocks inventory showed that 14 off-springs produced from November 2015 to August 2017 remain valued at P1,000 without subjecting those to the periodical appraisal of fair value.

“It was expected that after the lapse of sufficient time or period, these off-springs will grow into adults and logically increase in value due to physical change,” the auditors said.

Thus, the periodic appraisal should be strictly observed to reflect an updated fair value of biological assets in the financial statements and recognize gain from changes in fair value less cost to sell biological assets due to physical change.

Failure to observe the same increased the difficulty in identifying the assets and exposed the same to possible loss and replacement without a trail, the auditors said.

“Government properties entrusted to public officials should be given utmost priority and controls must be well established to safeguard the same from possible loss through theft or other similar acts,” read the COA report.

In the report, the auditors asked the governor to direct the Provincial Agriculture Office to require all projects-in-charge to report all the off-springs of biological assets in daily production and sales.

The projects-in-charge is also asked to ensure that ear tags are properly assigned and branded, and report any issues or problems encountered in the administration and safekeeping of animals.

This is to ensure that strategies and remedies can be formulated and applied to address the same and improve the monitoring, control and security of these biological assets.