THE Commission on Audit has thrown out the appeal of the Metro Manila and Rizal offices of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to lift the notice of disallowance (ND) on P11.34 million cash incentives paid in 2013.
In a six-page decision, the COA Commission Proper upheld the 2015 ruling of the Corporate Government Sector-Cluster 6 that affirmed the ND and ordered PhilHealth-NCR and PhilHealth-Rizal officials and employees to refund the full Productivity Incentive Bonus (PIB) and Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentives that they received.
The commission said the disbursement had no legal basis because the PIB is an additional benefit that was not supported by a prior approval of the Office of the President, while the payment of CNA exceeded the P25,000 limit and was given out as a signing bonus which made it illegal.
As defined under Department of Budget and Management Circular No. 2013-4, the CNA incentive is a one-time benefit which is dependent on the amount of savings generated by the agency from cost-cutting measures and systems improvement, and also from improvement of productivity and income of government corporations and state-owned financial institutions.
The COA said in the case of the Social Security System vs COA, the Supreme Court ruled that the incentive should not be given once the CNA is signed and ratified as this would transform it into a signing bonus.
Held liable by the COA were former PhilHealth president Alexander Padilla, Management Services Division chief Recto Panti, Human Resource Division chief Cheryl Peña, HR Unit officers Lourdes Cleofas and Lucille Arenas, administrative officer Divina Gracia Armas, fiscal controller Maricel Maglalang, chief social security officer Urcisimo Rivera, fiscal controllers Joselyn Pingad and Jenny Pearl Perez and PhilHealth NCR and Rizal officers and employees.
“The obligation to refund the payment received falls upon both those directly responsible, i.e., the approving officers, and those who actually received the disallowed benefit,” the COA said.
The audit team leader and the supervising auditor were told to determine if the PhilHealth Board of Directors should also be included among those held liable.
PhilHealth officials were reminded that they cannot source additional compensation using the agency’s operating budget.
“The main source of PHIC’s operating budget comes from the contributions of its members. Like any other social insurance, the members’ contributions are treated as a trust fund, and thus, should be managed and protected with utmost integrity,” the COA added.
