COA orders DOH-Bicol to return P5.4-M 'irregular' incentives

The Commission on Audit has ordered the Department of Health-Bicol Region to return the sum of P5.4 million representing the incentives granted to its officials and employees in 2013.

In a decision dated March 28, the COA commission proper junked the petition for review of DOH-Bicol appealing the notice of disallowance on the incentives which was affirmed by the COA National Government Section (NGS)-Cluster 6 in September 2015.

The COA said the petition of DOH-Bicol was filed 565 days, or beyond the 180-day reglementary period, after it received the notice in 2014 and the NGS decision.

The commission thus said the decision became "immutable and unalterable" pursuant to Section 22.1 of the 2009 Rules and Regulations on Settlement of Accounts.

"Petitioners’ neglect or omission to file an appeal for such a very long period of time warrants the presumption that they had either abandoned such right or had accepted the correctness of the assailed decision, which became final and executory," the COA said.

The petition of the agency would still be denied based on the merits, according to the COA, due to its irregular sourcing.

The COA said the Collective Negotiation Agreement granted to DOH-Bicol officials and employees came from savings on released funds for training and seminar purposes, contrary to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget Circular No. 2013-410.

The DBM circular states that incentives for government personnel should be solely sourced from an agency's Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) savings.

"It is incumbent upon petitioner to comply with DBM BC Circular No. 2013-4, which excludes Training and Seminar Expenses for CY 2013 among the allowed fund sources for CNA Incentives," the commission said.

The COA decision was signed by Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo and Commissioners Jose Fabia and Roland Pondoc.

The COA did not name the persons liable to return the amount. —KG, GMA News