COA hits excessive honoraria to Negros state college execs

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has called for the refund of honoraria and per diems which it said were illegally granted to officials of a state college in Negros.

In a 2010 audit report, state auditors said the rate of per diems and honoraria paid to the chairman, members and secretary of the board of trustees of the Negros State College of Agriculture (NSCA) for every board meeting shows illegal disbursement of government funds.

COA said Section 4.2 of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Circular No. 2003-6 dated Sept. 29, 2003, prescribes the ceiling on the grant of per diems and honoraria to the school officials.

State auditors said Section 4.2.1 of the same circular states that the chairpersons and members of the board of trustees shall not be entitled to excessive per diems.

For the chairpersons, the rules state that the amount of honoraria should be equivalent only to 25 percent of the monthly rice and transportation allowance (RATA) of the school president for every meeting actually attended but it should not exceed four meetings in a month.

For members, the amount of per diems should also be 25 percent of the monthly RATA of the school’s vice president for every meeting actually attended which still should not exceed four meetings in a month.

“Verification of the accounts of the college revealed that the agency continued paying members of the Board of Trustees, honoraria in excess of the allowable amount prescribed by DBM Circular No. 2003-6 dated Sept. 29, 2003,” the COA report said.

State auditors noted that in 2009, they already questioned the grant of the excessive per diems and honoraria to school officials which reached a total of P207,000.

“This a prior year observation which is reiterated in this report,” COA said, adding that it is now calling on concerned officials to require the members of the board of trustees “to refund the amount in excess of the prescribed rate.”

COA said the NSCA should discontinue the payment of honoraria of P5,000 for each member of the board of trustees for every board meeting.