The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered six former officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to return the P192 million that was disbursed in 2014 for the Achievement Bonus of the agency’s officials and employees.
In an eight-page decision, the COA denied the petition for review filed by then CAAP Director General retired Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss III, Administration and Finance Service Officer-in-Charge Concordia S. Pagkaliwangan, Finance Department Chief Jocelyn L. Ching, Accounting Division Chief Raul P. Eusebio, Budget Division Chief Rosario V. Nalungon, and Budget Officer III Fe L. Evangelista.
The COA's ruling affirmed its decision dated Oct. 29, 2015 against the payment the Achievement Bonus in 2014.
The dispositive portion of the ruling stated: "The authorizing, approving, and certifying officers remain solidarily liable for the total amount of disallowance which shall be reduced by the refunds made by the payees who are liable to return the amounts they actually received.”
The CAAP Board of Directors (BOD) issued Board Resolution No. 2014-007 on April 11, 2014 granting each employee of the CAAP, regardless of employment status, an Achievement Bonus to be charged against the CAAP corporate funds.
However, the audit team discovered that the Achievement Bonus violated several laws, rules, and regulations. It was also discovered that the bonus was not included in the 2014 CAAP Corporate Operating Budget (COB) and therefore deemed as an "irregular expenditure."
Hotchkiss and the others then filed a petition for review before the COA and argued that the funds used for the Achievement Bonus were sourced from CAAP savings.
But the COA found their petition "not meritorious" and said: "Notwithstanding that the source of fund for the Achievement Bonus is the CAAP's savings, the payment is unauthorized for lack of prior presidential approval."
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