The Commission on Audit (COA) has affirmed with finality the P59.7 million disallowance on incentive awards and assistance given by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) to its personnel in 2004.

The COA issued notice of disallowance (ND) No. PUP2004 dated Dec. 28, 2010 on the payment to PUP personnel of Personal Development and Capability and Enhancement Assistance (PDCEA) and Centennial Service Incentive Awards/Assistance (CSIA) for the period May to October 2004 amounting to P18,940,800 and P40,821,700, respectively.

PUP's Dr. Samuel M. Salvador, Larry M. Alfonso, Marissa J. Legaspi, and Dr. Gloria T. Baysa filed a petition for review before the COA which denied the appeal for being filed out of time and for lack of merit.

They then submitted a motion for reconsideration and argued that there was no substantial evidence to justify the findings that the grant of PDCEA and CSIA was illegal.

They also claimed that the PUP Board of Regents (BOR) relied on the pertinent provisions of Section 4(d) of Republic Act No. 8292, the Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997, when they granted the incentives.

However, the COA found their arguments bereft of merit and stressed that the grounds they stated have already been passed upon in the earlier decision that denied their petition for review.

"The grant of PDCEA and CSIA to PUP personnel in the amounts P18,940,800 and P40,821,700, respectively, for the period of May to October 2004, had no legal basis," the COA said.

It also said: "In this case, the grant of PDCEA and CSIA to PUP's personnel is not clothed with authority considering that it lacked review by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and eventual approval by the President," it added.

At the same time, the COA said the BOR of PUP has no regulatory power to grant additional allowances or benefits.

The eight-page decision was signed by COA Chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba and Commissioners Mario G. Lipana and Douglas M.N. Mallillin.