Disallowance vs P2M calamity assistance for University of Antique personnel stays

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THE Commission on Audit has affirmed the disallowance issued against the P2.23 million Economic Relief and Calamity Assistance (ERCA) paid to officials and employees of the University of Antique (UA).

The COA en banc sustained the 2012 ruling of the COA Regional Office No. 6 that denied the petition for review filed by university officials on the ground that the grant of the cash assistance lacked legal basis.

However, it overturned the portion of the ruling that exempted UA rank-and-file employees who had no participation in the review, processing, and release of the ERCA.

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COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana held that the officials of the Polytechnic State College of Antique (PSCA, former name of UA) Board of Trustees should have known that the stipend was “unlawful and violated existing laws, rules, and regulations.”

The COA Region 6 had ruled that the Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997 (RA 8292) mandated that income generated by a state university may be disbursed only for “instruction, research, extension or other programs/projects of the university or college.”

It noted that the university admitted that the Economic Relief and Calamity Assistance was granted as a fund assistance to UA personnel affected by Typhoon Frank which hit the Visayas in 2008.

“The officer who approved and certified the payment of the disallowed ERCA …cannot claim good faith on their failure to observe a clear provision of law,” the COA said.

On the other hand, it declared that even passive recipients are required by law to return the money since the unauthorized cash assistance constitutes unjust enrichment at the expense of the government.

“The natural consequence of a finding that the allowances and benefits were illegally disbursed is the consequent obligation on the part of the recipients to restore said amounts to the government coffers,” the Commission added.

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