OGCC chief implements reforms on lawyers’ allowances

MANILA, Philippines — Reforms have been implemented in the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged millions in excess allowances received by its lawyers.

OGCC chief Rudolf Philip Jurado has issued orders that adopted recommendations in the COA audit report, which showed that 16 lawyers of the agency have been paid P4,539,893.39 in excess allowances from January last year to March this year.

Jurado has directed their lawyers to “refrain from collecting allowances directly from client GOCCs (government-owned and controlled corporations) but instead remit the same to this office through the accounting section for monitoring purposes.”

“We have likewise instructed our accountant that until a decision of the COA and/or the Supreme Court declaring otherwise, all allowances given to our OGCC lawyers should not exceed the 50-percent of the basic salary limit and any excess to the limit should be deposited in a trust fund to be released when a favorable decision or ruling is issued,” Jurado revealed in a two-page letter to The STAR yesterday.

Jurado, who claimed he has not received any form of allowance from GOCCs “as a matter of personal policy,” also revealed the OGCC lawyers named in the COA report have already filed their comments to the audit body, particularly to the recommendation to refund the allowances they received in excess.

Jurado clarified that their lawyers are allowed to receive allowances from GOCCs and the only issue is the allowances they received in excess of the 50 percent of salary threshold set under the law.

The STAR reported earlier this week that COA flagged the excess allowances received by OGCC lawyers. State auditors cited its Circular No. 85-25-E, which provides that allowances of government personnel should not exceed 50 percent of their annual basic salary.

“The amount of P2,373,195.63 were collected by OGCC lawyers in excess of 50 percent limitation based on the lawyers’ annual basic salary,” read the COA report dated March 12, 2018.

The report showed eight OGCC lawyers – Elpidio Vega, Reginald Jeremy Wan, Manuel Santos Jr., Medardo Devera, Dominador Isidoro Jr., Ma. Dolores Rigonan, Marlio Odosis and Katrina Maria Reyes – received a total of P7,095,039.63 in allowances from GOCCs last year, but they should have received only about P4.7 million based on the 50 percent of salary threshold.

An updated report showed that 16 OGCC lawyers have been paid P4,539,893.39 in excess allowances as of March this year.

Apart from the refund of excess allowances, the COA also questioned the direct payment of allowances to the OGCC lawyers by their client GOCCs when all payments should have been remitted to the OGCC for proper accounting and tax payment.