Gwen: MCIAA Board to decide on COA's order

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she will abide by the decision of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority Board whether or not to refund the P500,000 severance pay they granted to former Department of Tourism regional director Patria Aurora Roa.

This after the Commission on Audit disallowed the payment and ordered the members of the MCIAA Board to reimburse the amount.

Garcia said that the MCIAA Board still has to meet this Friday to discuss the order of COA. She said she cannot take upon herself to speak for the board as she is only one member of the entire board.

“I shall always abide by what the board shall decide because that is how a board operates by consensus,” Garcia told reporters yesterday.

Garcia found it too premature to issue a statement and presumed to speak for the board.

But she explained that the matter has already been presented to the new board by MCIA general manager Nigel Paul Villarete.

The matter was also referred to the legal officer of MCIAA in order for the board to be guided in its eventual decision.

Garcia, who sits as ex-officio member of the MCIAA Board being the governor of Cebu, was one of the seven members of the airport’s policy-making body that approved the granting of the P500,000 severance pay to Roa in July 2010.

The amount served as Roa’s retirement benefits after serving the MCIAA Board for the past 15 years.

Aside from Garcia, the other MCIAA Board members, who were ordered to reimburse the government, are former Mactan Airport general manager Danilo Augusto Francia, Alfonso Cusi, Maria Lourdes Dedal, Valeriano “Bobit” Avila, Gordon Alan Joseph and Winglip Chang. —  (FREEMAN)