GOVERNMENT auditors have called out the Agusan del Norte provincial government following discovery that 96 of its workers are bringing home less than P5,000 a month due to numerous deductions outside of mandatory contributions for tax and health and insurance premiums.
In the 2021 audit report released last week, the Commission on Audit reminded the local government that under Section 49 of the General Appropriations Act of 2021, the paychecks of all government workers are supposed to be protected from excessive deductions so that no take-home pay will fall below P5,000.
“Review of payrolls for CY 2021 showed that there were personnel of the province of Agusan del Norte with net take-home pay below P5,000.00, which is below the statutory minimum take-home pay required by the above-stated provisions of GAA for FY 2021,” the COA said.
The audit team noted that by order of priority, taxes due the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) take precedence, followed by contributions to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), and Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or PagIBIG Fund).
Behind these are payments to non-stock savings and loans and mutual benefit associations, provident funds, government financial institutions, licensed insurance companies and thrift/rural banks.
