COA-7 rules anew for the return of P20K calamity aid

The Commission on Audit in Central Visayas (COA-7) has denied the appeal of the Cebu City government to reconsider its ruling that disallowed the P20,000 calamity aid to city employees in 2013.

COA-7 director Alicia Malquisto, in her ruling, insisted that the aid given to city workers by then mayor Michael Rama and the city council violated the guidelines on the use of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (LDRRMF).

The city legal office earlier acknowledged that the calamity aid was not among the allowable uses for the LDRRMF, the reason why the P84.4 million that City Hall spent for the aid was taken instead from the city’s general fund.

Malquisto, however, said that the admission of the city legal office as to why the city government charged the aid to the general fund made it more clear why it should be disallowed.

“The smoke of truth follows with their admission as it turns out that the budgetary realignment that they have initiated with respect to the subject disbursements may not be justifiable,” added Malquisto in a decision dated Sept. 23, 2016 but only received yesterday by the city government.

City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez said he would discuss the ruling with the other city lawyers. “We agreed that we will be working on this. Most likely, we will pursue that (filing of a petition for review with the COA central office),” he told reporters yesterday.

The COA ordered all city officials and employees to pay back the P20,000 calamity aid they received in December 2013 after noting, among others, that they were not victims of the 7.2 earthquake and Supertyphoon Yolanda that struck the Visayas that year.