OFFICIALS and employees of the provincial offices of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Batangas and Palawan have to return cash paid to them in 2010 and 2011 as Food and Grocery Incentives (FGI) totaling P3.06 million.
In separate decision released last week, the Commission on Audit denied the petitions for review filed by NFA-Batangas and NFA-Palawan and affirmed the notices of disallowance issued against them.
The COA Commission Proper ordered audit teams covering both NFA offices to take a second look into the records to determine if the NFA Council and then NFA administrator Jessup Navarro can be held liable for the disallowed fund releases.
The FGI was supposedly based on a 2005 resolution of the NFA Council granting P20,000 in cash to each employee and official of the NFA.
Auditors said the fund release was unauthorized since the payment of honoraria, allowances, and other extra compensation to any government official or employee was already prohibited under the national budget (General Appropriations Act) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Circular No. 16 s. 1998.
The two NFA provincial offices invoked goof faith on the part of their personnel, saying they honestly believed they were entitled to the extra pay since the prevailing rule does not allow diminution of their benefits.
The COA, however, said the disallowance issued against FGIs is no longer a novel issue as this had been the subject of many COA rulings earlier.
It declared that the argument that the FGI should be allowed because it has become “traditional” is baseless.
“The disallowance would not upset the principle of non-diminution of benefits. There can be no diminution of benefits when the recipients are not entitled to it in the first place,” the commission said.
At the same time, the claim of good faith did not get credence from the COA as it pointed out that the recipients had full knowledge that the cash incentive is not supported by law.
“It is clear that the liability of the officers concerned is dependent on the nature of the disallowance, the responsibility and extent of their participation in the disallowed transaction, and the amount of losses suffered by the government, as well,” it noted.
