COA absolves auditor from accountability on documents, records damaged by Yolanda

The Commission on Audit (COA) has absolved its audit team leader in Palo, Leyte from her responsibility over the documents and records damaged during the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.

In a decision released on Thursday, COA said it found merit to relieve Region VIII supervising auditor Maria Luz Castillo from her accountability for the audit documents, records, and reports of the COA regional office.

The damaged records also included those from the regional offices of the Civil Service Commission, Commission on Human Rights, and Commission on Elections where Castillo serves as audit team leader.

COA said it ruled in favor of Castillo since the records "do not have any monetary value" and that her request for relief falls under the jurisdiction of the National Archives of the Philippines.

Nonetheless, COA said there was no negligence on Castillo's part since the supertyphoon was not her own doing, citing Article 1174 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines which states that no person shall be held accountable for unforeseen events.

"The loss and damage of the subject documents were due to heavy rains and strong winds caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda, which could not have been prevented by Ms. Castillo," the COA decision read.

"It is worth noting the efforts of Ms. Castillo and her Audit Team to secure the documents prior to the storm, such as the storing of the files in steel cabinets, and other papers in nylon sacks and carton boxes, which were eventually placed on elevated locations like tables and cabinets," it added.

COA said Castillo and her team only recovered a few documents and equipment from the ruins, while most were fully soaked and could no longer be used as public records.

"Hence, Ms. Castillo should be exempt from liability, there being no showing of participation or negligence on her part that might have occasioned the loss and destruction of the documents under her custody," COA said. —KG, GMA News