THE Commission on Audit (COA) has denied the claim of Philippine Countryville College Inc. (PCCI, formerly Philippine Computer College Inc.) against the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) for payment of P577,000 in alleged uncollected training fees under a government scholarship program.
In a decision issued last January 14, the COA Commission Proper denied PCCI’s appeal as it reiterated its earlier finding that the claim is unsubstantiated because the school submitted dubious documents that did not help its cause in any way.
“After a circumspect evaluation, this Commission finds the documents insufficient to prove the validity of the claim. Several deficiencies were noted from the submitted documents,” the COA said.
The PCCI sought compensation from Tesda-Regional Office No. 10 for providing trainings for technical education scholars under the 2009 Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program (PGSP).
In a previous ruling in December 2016, the COA denied the school’s original petition for money claim citing conflicts with the provision of Presidential Decree No. 1445 or the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines.
Government auditors said the supposed contract was not covered by any appropriation for that year’s budget and the claim was not supported by pertinent documents.
In its motion for reconsideration, the PCCI submitted affidavits of undertaking, PGSP Scholarship Vouchers, approved qualification maps, daily time records of Tesda scholars, and enrollment reports.
While the scholars acknowledged receiving trainings in 2009 using scholarship certificates, auditors noted that they were all from Libona, Sumilao or Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon province. On the other hand, the trainings were supposed to have taken place in Cagayan de Oro City.
The COA also noted that based on the recipient’s statements, the training was conducted by the Davao Security and Investigation Agency (DASIA) but it was the PCCI that issued the certificates of completion.
No agreement of any kind was submitted to the COA showing that DASIA and PCCI had a valid arrangement for such an undertaking.
The validity of the scholarship certificates was until September 2009 but in at least one document, the training period was indicated to have taken place on July 17 to August 2, 2012.
Auditors also found that the DTRs of 25 scholars were signed by “one and the same person.”
Because of questionable documents, the commission held that the PCCI failed to establish the validity of its claim.
COA chairman Michael G. Aguinaldo and Commissioners Jose A. Fabia and Roland C. Pondoc signed the ruling.
