THE Commission on Audit (COA) has revealed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) overpaid pension benefits by P73.11 million to 264 deceased pensioners from 2021 to 2023. This revelation comes from the COA’s annual audit report on the AFP, which highlights a violation of the AFP Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) No. 14 dated July 15, 2019.
The COA report states that the AFP’s current policy of updating pensioner information only once a year for those aged 69 and below poses a significant risk for financial leakage. This policy allows for a delay in identifying deceased pensioners, resulting in continued payments to inactive accounts.
The report further points out that the AFP’s governing rules for pension payments under SOP No. 14 are insufficient in tagging and deleting non-updating pensioners. The COA suggests that a more frequent review process, such as deleting non-updating pensioners three months after they are tagged, could have prevented the overpayment of P73.11 million.
The COA’s findings highlight the need for the AFP to strengthen its procedures for managing pension payments. Implementing a more robust system for updating pensioner information and identifying deceased beneficiaries could help prevent future financial losses and ensure the efficient and ethical disbursement of pension benefits.
metrosundaily
