The Commission on Audit (COA) cannot expand its audit powers to include imposing administrative penalties, the Supreme Court (SC) said Wednesday.
In Biong vs. COA, the SC sitting En Banc, held that “the COA’s authority is limited to initiating the proper administrative, civil, and/or criminal action upon discovering a violation during an audit, the imposition of administrative penalties is outside the scope of its audit powers.”
In the said Decision penned by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting, the High Tribunal set aside COA’s disallowance against PhilHealth Region III Officer Jess Christopher Biong.
The COA Audit Team issued notices of disallowances to Biong and other officers after it found payments made to Silicon Valley for printer inks and toners irregular because of the delay in the delivery of the supplies, lack of inspection reports, and falsified supplies withdrawal slips.
The COA affirmed that said payments were irregular and that the regional office had a valid obligation to pay Silicon Valley since it received the supplies.
The Court explained that “for an expense to be irregular, there must be a violation of rules and regulations at the time the expense is incurred.”
If the irregularity happens after, disallowance is not proper, the SC added.
In the said case, since PhilHealth’s regional office did not suffer any loss by paying Silicon Valley for the supplies it received, Biong cannot be required to reimburse the government.
The COA’s imposition of a civil liability on Biong is like a fine or penalty, which the COA is not authorized to do, according to the SC.
The High Tribunal underscored that COA’s “conduct of an audit is not an exercise of the government’s administrative supervision over public officers.”
