IN 2011, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)-Region 4B paid its officers and employees collective negotiation agreement (CNA) incentives totaling P6,002,500.
During the year end audit, however, state auditors found that the sum paid to each agency personnel exceeded the limit by more than three-folds, prompting the issuance of a notice of disallowance.
The Commission on Audit noted that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget Circular No. 2011-5 authorized the CNA incentives at only P25,000 per employee.
Records showed BFAR Region 4B paid a lot more at P110,000 per personnel or 340 percent over the allowable amount.
Held liable by the COA were former officer-in-charge (OIC) regional director (RD) Emmanuel Asis, OIC assistant RD Rolando Miranda, OIC regional accountant Rosalie Masinas, Administrative Finance Division OIC Nerie Zamora, Planning, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division OIC Emelito Gibe, and BFAR Region 4B employees.
In its decision released last week, the COA Commission Proper denied the appeal of the BFAR regional officials, noting that the CNA incentives were paid in four tranches during the year, contrary to the rule that it must be paid only before the end of the year.
This is because the incentive is supposed to come from actual agency savings which could not have been realized yet when the four tranches were paid on June 9, July 15, December 9, and December 20, 2011.
“The approving, certifying and authorizing officials cannot be deemed to have acted in good faith when they granted the CNA Incentive in clear violation of the DBM circulars. Hence, the approving, certifying and authorizing officials are solidarily liable for the disallowed amount,” the COA said.
Rank and file employees who merely received the incentives without any participation in their approval were only required to refund the excess over the allowed P25,000 CNA.
