The Commission on Audit has called the attention of the National Youth Commission personnel, including its officials, to refund disallowed cash leave credits of P680,675.91 and travel expenses of P129,718.66.
In a 2018 annual audit report, the Commission called on ex-NYC chairperson Ronald Cardema to return the total amount of P810,394.57 to the Bureau of Treasury.
On April 25, the state auditors sent a transmittal letter of the report to Cardema’s office.
Based on the report, the leave credit balances of 67 employees were “incorrect.”
The grant of compensatory time-off of 371 days or P680,675.91 designed to offset official travels on weekends or holidays was contrary to the provisions of a joint circular of the Civil Service Commission and Department of Budget and Management dated 2004.
“We recommended and management agreed to require concerned officers and employees to refund the excess claims based on the notice of disallowance dated Feb. 20, 2019,” the report read.
NYC, for its part, assured CoA that it would refund the P810,394.57 non-commutable leave credits found to be “unjustifiable,” and that it would submit an explanation into the monetized leave credits.
CoA told the NYC’s chief accountant to entertain only transactions with appropriate documents.
According to the state auditors, the excess claims of travel expenses worth P129,718.66 emanated from the reimbursement of actual travel expenses granted to officials and permanent employees.
Such was found inconsistent with the March 23, 2004 Executive Order No. 298.
Of the P37,581.84 travel expenses, at least 28.97 percent went up to meals which were considered “immoderate for one person’s consumption” from P794 to P1,500.
Some P858,926.62 vacation and sick leave credits converted into cash were also against the Omnibus Rules on Leave and CoA Circular No. 2012-01, CoA maintained.
The Commission on Elections en banc approved Cardema’s petition for substitution as the first nominee of the Duterte Youth Party-list, saying under the rules, withdrawal, and substitution were allowed before election day.
On the eve of the May 13 elections, while sitting as NYC chairperson, Cardema filed a petition for substitution as the party-list nominee.
