MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Audit (COA)affirmed its ruling to disallow P322.04 million in payments made by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF or Pag-IBIG) in 2015 to personnel who availed of early retirement.
The decision effectively orders Pag-IBIG officials who approved the payments, as well as the employees who received them, to return the full amount to the government.
In the 19-page ruling released last week, the COA en banc said the Pag-IBIG’s Early Retirement Incentive Plan (ERIP) functioned as a cash reward or double retirement pay since recipients were still eligible to receive retirement benefits from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
A total of 162 officials and hundreds of other employees benefited from the ERIP. Payments totaled P165.5 million in 2010 and 2011, and P156.5 million from 2011 to 213.
The disbursements were made possible after the passage of a board resolution in 2010 gave Pag-IBIG personnel the option to retire and collect the cash incentive under ERIP “without prejudice to the retiree’s entitlement to the regular retirement benefits under any of the existing GSIS retirement laws.”
After the COA Corporate Government Sector – Cluster 2 director upheld the notice of disallowance, Pag-IBIG’s chief executive officer and other officials filed petitions for review in 2016, insisting that the board’s approval of the ERIP should be presumed regular as they were made in good faith.
The COA en banc, however, rejected those arguments.
“This commission finds the payment of ERIP benefits to HDMF officers and personnel not valid, hence there is no cogent reason to overturn the COA-CGS Cluster 2 Decision,” the ruling read.
Audit records revealed that 60 of the 162 HDMF officers benefited from dual collections — receiving ERIP payments and claiming GSIS retirement benefits from GSIS — in violation of COA Circular No. 2012-003, which prohibits supplementary or double payment of retirement benefits. – Rappler.com