SC upholds CoA ruling on Marina
THE SUPREME COURT (SC) has upheld a 2005 Commission on Audit (CoA) ruling that rejected additional allowances, benefits, and cash gifts for officers of the Maritime Industry Authority amounting to P988,004 issued in 2002 and 2003.
In a resolution dated Aug. 8, 2023 and made public only last Feb. 8, the SC agreed with CoA findings that the issuance of the allowances and benefits in the case did not have a legal basis.
“The absence of legality in the expenditure precludes a finding that the disbursement was genuinely given out of consideration for services rendered,” the SC ruled.
However, the approving Marina officers were not liable to refund the disallowed amounts because the notice of disallowances by CoA had been issued in 2005, years after the benefits were disbursed. They had been presumed to have acted in good faith, the SC ruled.
“Similarly, the record does not show that the (Marina) Board of Directors was informed prior to the issuance of the resolutions approving the allowances that the allowances were in violation of law, rules and regulations,” it said. — John Victor D. Ordoñez