COA questions Philhealth president’s expenses, allowances

The Commission on Audit (COA) has called the attention of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) interim president Celestina De La Serna for expenses and allowances worth more than P900,000 in her first year.

In its Audit Observation Memorandum dated April 18, COA flagged De La Serna, who assumed the post in April last year, for spending P627,293.04 to cover her travel expenses to and from her hometown of Bohol to Manila.

The COA said the amount covered her airplane fares from Tagbilaran to Manila and vice versa, terminal fees, and hotel accommodations.

State auditors said the expenses of De La Serna violated the guidelines of the Austerity Measures Implementation which prohibited frequent local travels unless they were "very urgent and necessary to present assignment and to adopt techniques and procedures to effectively discharge the present work assignments."

COA also questioned why De La Serna received more than P143,881.17 in allowances despite the issuance of Notices of Disallowance in previous years and are now under "on appeal status."

De La Serna's allowances that are currently on appeal covers her hazard pay (P35,150.60), subsistence allowance (P7,500), laundry allowance (P750), collective negotiating agreement (P9,000), and "PS WE CARE" (P91,480.57).

The COA further said the PhilHealth chief had a per diem of P152,000 for her meetings done through teleconferencing or videoconferencing.

The PhilHealth board approved the election of De La Serna as its interim president on April 10, 2017. She is also a member of the board of directors representing Filipino migrant workers.

The COA said this designation allowed De La Serna to receive a per diem of P24,000 for committee meetings and P40,000 for regular board meetings.

De La Serna further received P72,000 for her attendance in committee meetings via teleconferencing or videoconferencing.

The COA told De La Serna to "submit legal basis for the receipt of the allowances" and "refrain from claiming aforementioned allowances, unless there is legal basis for the grant of afore cited benefits."

GMA News Online is still trying to reach the camp of De La Serna for comment as of posting time. —NB, GMA News