Case Digest (G.R. No. 169637)
Facts:
This is Benguet State University represented by its President Rogelio D. Colting v. Commission on Audit, G.R. No. 169637, June 08, 2007, the Supreme Court En Banc, Nachura, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner is Benguet State University (BSU); respondent is the Commission on Audit (COA).On July 6, 1997, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 8292 (Higher Education Modernization Act of 1997). Pursuant to Section 4(d) of that law, the Board of Regents of BSU adopted Board Resolution No. 794 on October 31, 1997, authorizing a rice subsidy and health care allowance to BSU employees. The subsidies were paid from BSU income in 1998, totaling ₱4,350,000.00.
On October 20, 1999, COA issued Notice of Disallowance No. 99-001-STF (98), disallowing the payments for lack of statutory authority. BSU sought lifting of the disallowance from the COA Regional Office; the COA-Cordillera Administrative Region denied relief in COA-CAR Decision No. 2000-3 dated January 26, 2000, citing Section 55(2) of the General Appropriation Act of 1998 (R.A. No. 8522) and holding that the grants lacked statutory basis and transgressed the constitutional prohibition on additional or double compensation.
BSU petitioned the national COA to review Decision No. 2000-3; the COA denied the petition in COA Decision No. 2003-112 dated July 17, 2003, and later denied BSU’s motion for reconsideration in COA Decision No. 2005-019 dated March 17, 2005. COA’s rulings applied the principle of ejusdem generis to interpret the phrase “other programs/projects” in Section 4(d) of R.A. No. 8292 narrowly (as limited to instruction, research, extension) and relied on the constitutional proscription against additional compensation and the Salary Standardization Law.
BSU filed a petition captioned as a Petition for Review on Certiorari with the Supreme Court seeking to nullify COA Decision No. 2003-112 and Decision No. 2005-019. The Court noted that COA decisions are reviewable by certiorari under Rul...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is the petition properly considered as a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45, or as a petition for certiorari under Rule 65?
- Was BSU authorized to grant the rice subsidy and health care allowance to its employees under R.A. No. 8292, its IRR, or the Constitution?
- Must the employees who received the disallowed payments reim...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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