ONLY those who leave the ground are entitled to Flying Risk Pay (FRP).
This was declared by the Commission on Audit as it upheld the disallowance issued against the same benefits paid in 2011 to ground-based officials and employees of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
The COA ruled that non-flying personnel of the CAAP must refund the FRP totaling P323,579.50 as it invoked Section 30, of RA 776 or the Civil Aeronautics Act of the Philippines that the benefit shall be given only to rated or licensed airmen and authorized personnel who “undertake or perform regular and frequent aerial flights in connection with their duties.”
Based on Section 315 (c) the Government Accounting and Auditing Manual (GAAM), the FRP is equivalent to 50 percent of the monthly base pay of the eligible personnel. It also clarified that the benefit shall not be extended to staff who are only “passengers.”
Auditors issued the notice of disallowance in 2013 addressed the office of the CAAP director general.
The CAAP release of FRP to ground-based staff was authorized by the agency’s Board of Directors through Board Resolution No. 2011-007 s. 2011.
Held liable were then Director General Ramon Gutierrez; deputy DG Napoleon Garcia; ODG officers Jose Tapnio, Rodrigo Artuz, and Abner Bondoc; Engineering Department acting chief Raul Glorioso; Communications, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) officer Nepthali Velasco; supervising air traffic controller Deogracias Pulmano Jr.; and CNS systems officer Alex Balde.
“Their positions were not included in the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved corporate operating budget which specified the positions allowed to be granted the FRP. Thus, the payments of FRP to said officials were considered an irregular expenditure,” the COA said.
The commission added that since the functions of the nine CAAP officials “merely involved administrative and financial matters which are not related to aircraft operations and aerial missions” any time they accumulated flying still does not qualify them to receive FRP.
“To grant otherwise would unwittingly entitle every official or employee who travels by plane to FRP. It is not only unnecessary but an excessive use of public funds,” the COA said.
