FORTY barangay chairpersons from Sta. Barbara, Iloilo can now heave a sigh of relief after the Commission on Audit lifted the disallowance on the P1 million registration fees and traveling expenses they incurred during a seminar in Cebu City in 2013.
The ruling relieves them of the requirement to refund P25,000 each based on notices of disallowance issued in 2014.
Auditors earlier said the holding of the Liga ng mga Barangay Provincial Congress 2013 at the Waterfront Hotel and casino in Lahug, Cebu City violated the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Memorandum Circular No. 2011-59 discouraging the holding of trainings and seminars outside of the geographical island where the local government unit is located.
Likewise flagged was the direct payment to the Liga ng mga Barangay and the travel company as the audit team noted that local and foreign travels should be done through cash advances.
The barangay chairpersons appealed before the COA Regional Office 6 but were overruled, prompting the petition for review at the COA Commission Proper.
In granting the petition for review, the COA clarified that “geographical islands” referred to in the DILG circular referred to the main island groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Since Iloilo and Cebu are both in the Visayas islands, the commission held that there was no violation of the DILG rule.
