MUNICIPAL officials and public school principals of Mariveles, Bataan, have failed to persuade the Commission on Audit (COA) to lift the Notice of Disallowance (ND) issued in 2014 against the payment of hardship allowances to public school teachers totaling P4.49 million.
In a 10-page decision, the COA en banc denied the Petition for Review filed by former Mariveles mayor Jesse Concepcion and his fellow petitioners seeking the reversal of the COA Region 3’s 2016 ruling that declared the use of the municipal government’s Special Education Fund (SEF) for the said allowance unlawful.
Other than Concepcion, also held liable in the disallowance were municipal treasurer Onofre Diuco, accountant Danilo Cejalvo, budget officer Lourdes Selorio, cashier Adelina de Jesus, school principals Quirino Barlis, Amelinda Fandealan, Marina Barlis, and Rosario Paulo, district supervisor Rodger De Padu, and teaching personnel who received the cash allowance.
Auditors said charging hardship allowances against the SEF is a violation of Republic Act No. 5774, the law that created the said fund and enumerated the specific expenditure items on which it may be used.
Under the Salary Standardization Law (RA 6758), all allowances due the teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) are already integrated in their compensation.
The local government appealed to the COA to lift the disallowance, saying the hardship allowance is analogous to hazard pay to assist the teachers in recognition of the difficulties of their job, including commuting to their assigned place of work.
While acknowledging that “difficulty in commuting” is a qualifying factor to pay hardship allowance to teaching personnel out of the SEF, the COA en banc explained that this requires prior approval from the Secretary of Education.
“The petitioners failed to show that the DepEd Secretary has issued a certification or any other similar document from the said authority that could attest that the teachers who received the disallowed HA have actually worked in area/s exposed to hardship,” the Commission said.
The COA said the municipal officials and the school principals did not have the authority to authorize disbursements of sums for the hardship allowance (HA) or special hardship allowance (SHA) from the SEF.
“Coming now to the liability of the officers who approved and certified the payment of the HA/SHA, they are solidarily liable for he disallowed transaction.
As regards the recipients, they are required to refund the amount they have actually received applying the principle of unjust enrichment …and solutio indebiti,” the COA added.
However, cashier Adelina de Jesus was relieved of any liability because her participation was only ministerial in nature, as she had no discretion in the approval of the fund releases.
