OFFICIALS and employees of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) are required to pay back the cash birthday gift given to them in 2014 totaling P6.35 million that was disallowed by the Commission on Audit for lack of legal basis.
COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana affirmed the position of the COA Corporate Government Sector-Cluster 6 that the payment of birthday gifts amounts to double compensation and hence disallowed.
In its appeal, PhilHealth argued that the payout of birthday gifts is not a new benefit.
Likewise, it asserted that it has autonomy being now classified as a government financial institution and hence entitled to enjoy the independence accorded to other GFIs.
The COA, however, said all the explanations offered by the agency have been considered and overruled in the issuance of the assailed ruling.
“The grounds raised by Philhealth are mere rehash of the arguments in its petition for review, which have been considered and judiciously passed upon in the decision,” it pointed out.
In addition, it invoked the 2022 ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of PhilHealth vs. COA where it categorically declared that the payment of birthday gift to Philhealth is bereft of legal basis since it is not listed among the allowable non-integrated allowances enumerated in the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989 (RA 6758).
“If only to reiterate, the extent of Philhealth’s power to fix the compensation of its personnel and determine the grant of allowances and benefits to its officers and employees is not absolute and is at all times subject to existing rules and regulations,” the COA added.
