Defiance rather than compliance

 Time was when the Commission on Audit’s word was gospel command for strict compliance, say, disapproval of transactions, disallowance of expenses, allowances, bonuses, etc. If the order isn’t appealed within 6 months, it’s final and executory.

However, the time has come, as now, that public officials, easily disregard COA bans or disallowances with impunity and defiant derring-do. Such arrogant posture of clashing with fiscal disallowances or prohibitions is getting rampant – not merely subtle skirting what is legally taboo – especially that only some transactions require COA pre-audit.

Abusers go around the letter of the law, nonetheless, a violation by whatever name. The usual ploy of sourcing funds for incentives, allowances, bonuses, the “14th” or “15th” month pay, is the over-abused “savings”. Often short-changed is public service, for ample unexpended balance to “divide” and rob empty the public coffers.

The trend of straining the “savings syndrome” isn’t only true among organic national line agencies and the LGUs, but more among Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) and the Government Financial Institutions (GFI) which total about 736 in number.

Among big GOCCs and GFIs, their executives and boards of trustees/directors have drained dry the public coffers. Imitating the giant private corporations within the Wall Street class, whose salaries and perks hectored the economic recession in USA, the GOCCs and GFIshave dried up their funds. Senator Franklin Drilon who chairs the Senate committee investigating their bloated spending was led to exclaim that their abuses have attained “indecent” proportions.

The usual shield invoked by the GOCC/GFI culprits is that their perks and bonanzas are within the provisions of their Charters. In effect, both chambers of Congress and the President in the past could not wash their hands off the incredible aegean stable of fiscal anarchy as “legalized” in GOCC charters. No wonder that LGUs and the line agencies of the departments and bureaus, are also into the habit of toying with public funds.

Just few samplers… The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Region 7 had been ordered by COA to refund P10.4 M as illegally disbursed incentives and honoraria to its personnel in 2009, plus the P213,600 collective negotiation agreement (CNA) in excess of 1/2 of the savings of its national budget. Both were prematurely given before December 31, 2009. Other irregularities dealt on additional medical/dental allowance, social amelioration, grocery allowance, and rice allowance; and, questionable expenses in 2008, such as, giveaways or “pasalubong” for visitors and BFAR officials.

 Despite COA’s order for refund which had not been timely appealed, the refund order has not been complied with. The BFAR-7 case isn’t, definitely, an isolated one. Multiply it so many times among all national agencies would give a much bigger picture of the irregularities.

Other examples of COA’s orders not being heeded anymore are likewise true among LGUs… Of the 80 barangays in Cebu city, only 15 have complied with the COA advice to submit supporting documents of their fiscal transactions covering the honoraria and allowances of barangay officials. Certainly, this could be prevailing nationwide.

It’s not also surprising that the higher LGUs may have similar attitude as regards COA orders/disallowances upon post audit. Such abuse of accumulative violations of cash advances and no timely liquidation, or indiscriminate grant of cash advances, excessive travel expenses, or over-payments, payroll padding or ghost employees, and other shenanigans could be alarming. Succinctly put, reckoned nationwide among LGUs, non-compliance could reach multi-billions that may end up like bad debts.

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