COA dismisses state auditor over unauthorized allowances from gov’t agencies

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit has ordered dismissal of a state auditor for grave misconduct after she was found to have claimed unauthorized allowances from government agencies that she audited.

The auditor, who was not named as provided under COA rules, served the commission for 31 years and was a former audit team leader assigned to three Bulacan towns.

The decision ordering the auditor’s dismissal was signed by COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario Lipana.

The COA en banc perpetually disqualified the respondent from holding public office while her retirement benefit was forfeited.

The commission created an investigating team to look into various complaints against the auditor in 2015 and 2016, including allegations of issuing checks with insufficient funding, asking fellow employees to invest in lotto and off-track betting stations that did not materialize, and also getting cash and gifts from agencies that she audited.

During the investigation, a municipal accountant of one of the Bulacan towns she audited confirmed to COA that the auditor received P400 per day travel allowance from August 2014 to September 2016, amounting to P192,800, as well as P61,897 in medical assistance.

Investigators also discovered that the municipal accountants in the two other Bulacan towns assigned to the auditor released to her P10,000 and 15,000, respectively, in medical assistance.

“Claiming unauthorized allowances and collecting travel allowance from the agency while being aware of the prohibition showed the intent to violate the law and the rules and regulations,” COA said.

In responding to the allegations, the auditor had claimed that she was not aware of the rule against engaging in personal business but admitted that she obtained financial and medical assistance from the audited agencies to help pay the hospital bills of some family members.

To this, the COA en banc said: “Respondent apparently failed to grasp the gravity of her transgression which not only impacts negatively on the image of this Commission but also reflects the depravity of her character, Thus, we cannot consider in her favor, her 3 1 years in government service.” – Rappler.com