Facts:
Hon. Jed Patrick E. Mabilog (substituted by
Hon. Jerry P. Trenas), City Mayor, Iloilo City, in his capacity as City Mayor and in behalf of the rank-and-file employees of the City of Iloilo (collectively, petitioners), filed a petition contesting administrative audit rulings of the
Commission on Audit (COA), COA Regional Office No. VI and Evelyn P. Reyes, Regional Director, which disallowed the payment of the
Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) for calendar year 2009 in the total amount of
P46,424,328.24. On 16 December 2009 the Sangguniang Panlungsod enacted Ordinance Nos. 2009-095 and 2009-096 to approve Supplemental Budget No. 9 and to realign PS Savings respectively, authorizing payment of PEI of P30,000.00 each to officials and employees and transferring portions of the Calamity Fund and PS Savings to fund the PEI; upon audit, COA Audit Team issued
Notice of Disallowance No. 10-001-100-(09) dated 12 August 2010 disallowing the PEI chiefly on the ground that Iloilo City had exceeded its Personal Services (PS) limitation under Section 325(a) of
R.A. No. 7160 and because the purported reversion of the Calamity Fund violated the IRR of
R.A. No. 8185; the COA Regional Office, in Decision No. 2015-026 dated 29 June 2015, affirmed the ND and found petitioners could not invoke good faith in view of AO 276, DBM Budget Circular No. 2009-5 and DBM LBC No. 2009-93; the COA Proper, in Decision No. 2017-404 dated 13 December 2017 and Resolution No. 2019-038, denied petitioners’ review and sustained the disallowance; petitioners then filed the present certiorari under Rule 64, in relation to Rule 65, seeking nullification of the COA rulings and earlier obtained substitution of parties by Court Resolution dated 24 September 2019.
Issues:
Did the COA commit grave abuse of discretion in finding that the PEI granted by Iloilo City for FY 2009 is subject to the
Personal Services limitation under Section 325(a) of
R.A. No. 7160? Did the COA commit grave abuse of discretion in ruling that the reversion of the Calamity Fund to the unappropriated surplus for payment of PEI was invalid? Did the COA commit grave abuse of discretion in finding a legal basis exists for the City’s grant of PEI for FY 2009? Did the COA commit grave abuse of discretion in finding that the government employees and officials who received the PEI did not act in good faith and are liable to return the amounts received?
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: