Tetangco ordered to return P.58 M in allowances

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Audit (COA) has directed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amando Tetangco Jr. and two other ranking officials of the BSP to return to the government P582,500 in allowances and bonuses they received in 2010 and 2011.

In a ruling dated Feb. 16 and released to the media yesterday, the COA proper – composed of chairperson Michael Aguinaldo and commissioners Jose Fabia and Isabel Agito – affirmed the two Notices of Disallowance (NDs) issued by the COA-Corporate Government Sector (CGS) in February 2012.

Also ordered to return unauthorized bonuses and allowances were BSP deputy governors Armando Suratos and Juan de Zuñiga Jr.

But the COA proper decreased the total amount of allowances and bonuses that must be returned by the three BSP officials to P582,500 from P618,500 in the CGS decision.

Ordered returned by Tetangco were P155,000 worth of representation allowances and bonuses and P74,000 per diem.

Suratos, meanwhile, was directed to return P51,112 worth of representation allowances and bonuses and P251,000 per diem.

Zuñiga was told to return P18,387 representation allowances and bonuses and P33,000 per diem.

Based on COA’s records, the allowances, bonuses and per diems were given to Tetangco, Suratos and Zuñiga as ex-officio members of the board of directors of the Philippine International Convention Center Inc. (PICCI).

The COA proper said that although the grant of per diem is allowed under the Corporation Code of the Philippines, such grant must be limited to P1,000 per day as declared by the Supreme Court in a previous ruling.

The COA said that of the total of P394,000 per diems given to the three BSP officials, there was an excess of P358,000.

“However, this Commission disfavors the unregulated increase in per diems granted for every attendance in meeting of each member of the board of directors of PICCI,” the COA ruling read.

“Thus, although the grant of per diems finds legal basis in Section 30 of the Corporation Code of the Philippines, only the amount of P1,000 for every meeting shall be allowed pursuant to the ruling of the Supreme Court... and pursuant to the suspension of the grant of new or increased benefit under Memorandum Order No. 20 (series of 2001),” it added. – With Lawrence Agcaoili