EXPLAINER: What is a special disbursing officer?

EXPLAINER: What is a special disbursing officer? The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte saw former special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta take the witness stand as the first hostile witness presented by the House prosecution panel. But what is an SDO in the first place? And what role does he play in managing an agency’s confidential and intelligence funds? Under the Commission on Audit’s Government Accounting Manual for National Government Agencies, an authorized accountable officer or SDO is allowed to make cash advances for special, time-bound undertakings. The cash advances must come only from the agency’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses, and they must be liquidated properly afterward. SDOs are authorized to withdraw cash from a government bank. “Any unutilized cash advance shall be refunded, and an OR (official receipt) shall be issued to acknowledge collection thereof,” the COA wrote. Cash advances have documentary requirements. The SDO is tasked with maintaining a Report of Cash Disbursement. When it comes to confidential and intelligence funds, the COA’s joint circular states that an SDO is a regular employee designated by the head of the agency to make special disbursements of confidential funds and intelligence funds. Even when dealing with confidential or intelligence funds, an SDO must still keep a separate cash disbursement record. They are required to keep a certified true duplicate of the required documents of the COA’s mandated supporting documents that prove the utilization of the confidential and/or intelligence funds. The SDO is also mandated to submit the confidential and intelligence funds’ liquidation reports, progress reports, and accomplishment reports to the head of the agency for approval. The SDO is also tasked with submitting a liquidation report to the COA Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Unit. —LDF, GMA News