THE Commission on Audit has affirmed its 2019 decision that upheld 14 notices of disallowance (NDs) issued against salary increases and various allowances totaling P264,404,571.22 paid to officials and employees of the Philippine Guarantee Corp (Philguarantee, formerly Trade and Investment Development Corporation of the Philippines (TIDCorp) from 2006 to 2013.
COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Philguarantee through the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) that sought the lifting of the disallowance.
Worse, the Commission en banc held that besides agency officials who approved and certified the salary adjustments and allowances, even rank-and-file employees who only had passive roles in receiving the extra pay, are required by law to refund the amounts received.
The COA swept aside the contention that the actions of Philguarantee officials who approved the fattened paychecks enjoy the presumption of irregularity since they were only performing their official duties.
It pointed out that in approving the higher salaries and allowances, agency officials disregarded Presidential issuances and COA directives requiring prior clearances from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Office of the President.
“As regards the recipient-payees, they are required to refund the amounts they have actually received applying the principles of unjust enrichment under Article 22 and solutio indebiti under Article 2154 of the New Civil Code,” the Commission said.
Solutio indebiti is a legal concept that states that the natural consequence of a finding that allowances and benefits were illegally disbursed is the consequent obligation on the part of all the recipients to restore said amounts, in this particular case, in the government coffers.
On the other hand, the COA en banc granted the MR of former TIDCorp chairperson Cesar Purisima to be relieved of liability based on his submission that he was attending an economic managers’ meeting of the Aquino Cabinet in Malacañang when the Board of Directors of TIDCorp/Philguarantee approved Resolution no. 2465 in 2011 which granted the pay out of Christmas benefit for that year.
The COA noted that the Minutes of the 315th Meeting dated December 14, 2011 did not bear any signature by Purisima, bolstering his argument.
