COA orders TRC to return illegal bonuses

The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered former officials of the Technology Resource Center, led by its director general who has been implicated in the pork barrel scam, to return the bonuses they received in 2011, amounting to P14.7 million, without the clearance of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In a decision released this month, the COA Commission Proper denied the petition for review filed by former TRC Director General Dennis Cunanan seeking a recall of the notice of disallowance issued by the TRC audit team leader on October 23, 2012.

Cunanan, who is facing multiple corruption charges before the Sandiganbayan for his alleged involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, said the notices of disallowance were prematurely issued because the TRC request for approval was still pending with the DBM.

COA Chairman Michael Aguinaldo and Commissioners Jose Fabia and Isabel Agito upheld the ruling of the COA Corporate Government Sector, stating that the Omnibus Incentive Benefit (OIB) given to TRC officials and employees was illegal.

Under the law a DBM approval must first be sought before any additional benefit or allowance that have yet to be integrated into the standardized salaries of employees may be disbursed, the Commission Proper said.

The TRC was cognizant of the DBM rule because it wrote then-DBM Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad on May 11, 2011 requesting for an OIB approval under its corporate operating budget for 2011. The DBM, however, did not issue any approval regarding the bonuses, the commission said.

But the TRC proceeded to grant the bonuses of its officials and employees by virtue of a resolution passed by its board of directors, which approved the bonuses.

The COA, however, said the board does not have the authority to green-light the provision of bonuses.
 
The board of directors "of TRC does not have an unbridled and plenary power to determine the salary, benefits, and allowances of its personnel. It is only the DBM that has the mandate to classify positions and determine the appropriate salaries per specific positions,” the commission said. — Xianne Arcangel/VS, GMA News