The Commission on Audit (COA) has recommended the filing of charges against the officials of the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC) for delayed remittances to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) from 2016 to 2020 of P38.5 million in premium contributions of cadets and employees.
"PhilHealth premium contributions totaling P38.598 million, covering the period from December 2016 to November 2020, were not properly remitted due to poor internal control and failure of responsible officers to timely take appropriate action, contrary to Section 18b, Title III, Rule III of Republic Act No. 7875, thereby incurring penalties of P29.712 million," the COA report stated.
The report also stated that in 2021, the PPSC even paid additional penalties amounting to P8.521 million.
It said the PPSC chief accountant told the COA audit team that they were "complacent" that PhilHealth premium contributions were regularly remitted, considering that disbursement vouchers were processed and the corresponding checks were already released to personnel assigned to process the remittances.
It was only when personal verification with PhilHealth was made on Nov. 5, 2020 that they were informed of the past due accounts and un-updated membership records, COA said quoting the PPSC accountant.
But COA said that the accountability and responsibility for remitting the PhilHealth contributions fell on the shoulders of the chief accountant. However, he passed on that responsibility to a job order personnel.
"It was admitted by the concerned personnel that she failed to remit the premium contributions when the bank refused to accept the check payment, allegedly due to the implementation of the PhilHealth electronic filing system," the report said.
"Accordingly, due to the complexities encountered brought about by the new system, she was not able to remit the premium contributions since then," it added.
The COA pointed out that the lapses could have been prevented had there been regular and timely preparation of the bank reconciliation statement (BRS).
"The penalties imposed by PhilHealth due to non-remittance are the result of gross negligence and inefficiency of the concerned officers and/or employees. Hence, the government must not bear the burden of paying it, in consonance with the fundamental principle that government funds or property shall be spent or used solely for public purposes," COA stressed in its report.
However, the COA report recommended that the PPSC make representations with PhilHealth management to request a waiver of the penalty inadvertently paid and assign "responsible personnel" to periodically monitor and reconcile the PhilHealth premium contributions and actual remittances.