LAST March 21, 2011, six months after he retired as a scientist from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) on September 15, 2010, Dr. Gabriel Romero received a notification that he did not render the required return of service for a period of 23.5 months.
Converted to hard cash, he was told that he owed the PhilRice P1,031,431.32, representing his financial obligations plus legal interest.
It was a headache that would persist for 11 years.
Last October 7, the Commission on Audit finally lifted the Notice of Charge clearing Dr. Romero of all liabilities, saying he did not incur any obligation and it was all a big mistake.
The error started when he was appointed by PhilRice to complete a post-doctoral fellowship research for 23-and-a-half months with the Waksman Institute of Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.
The fellowship was collaborative in nature and Dr. Romero served as a visiting scientist working on the discovery of tungro-resistant genes and the development of a rice variety that would be resistant to the disease from January 2002 to February 2006.
While he actually worked, he was still made to sign a contract requiring him to render return-of-service to PhilRice for the same period upon completion of the fellowship. In effect, he was being asked to render an additional two years more or less of service.
Since he planned to retire by late 2010, he asked to have a computation if he has any financial liability with the agency. He was told that if he retires by September 15, 2010, he has to pay P654,290.84 as “scholarship financial obligation.”
He requested for a reduction and was instructed by PhilRice executive director Ronilo Beronio that he is qualified for a 50 percent cut or P327,145.42, which he readily paid.
The PhilRice auditor disagreed with Beronio, insisting that not only should the sum be paid in full — Romero should also be required to pay interest on top of it hence the notice of
charge for P1,031,413.32.
Because he has already retired, Romero received the notification late and was told that his appeal would no longer be allowed.
COA chairperson Michael G. Aguinaldo and Commissioner Roland C. Pondoc set aside the ruling and declared that Dr. Romero did not owe PhilRice a centavo.
“A return of service contract should not have been imposed by PhilRice management on Dr. Romero. In view of the fact that a post-doctoral training contract was already signed…it must be honored and implemented. However, it must be liberally construed in favor of Dr. Romero,” the COA said.
