Cabanatuan City Water District (CCWD) general manager Mario Villasan has been denied payment for his training and travelling expenses worth P3.3 million at Harvard University.
In issuing a notice of disallowance (ND), the Commission effectively denied Villasan’s petition for review in a six-page decision released to media on Tuesday.
COA issued the ND even after the CCWD board of directors allowed him to attend the Advance Management Program of the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
The supervising auditor of CCWD issued an ND dated July 1, 2013 after finding the lack of legal basis and proper authority on the payment of a Villasan’s expenses for the academic program. The regional director of COA in Region III later affirmed the ND in 2014.
In a petition, Villasan argued that his training and travel to Harvard was valid since it was authorized by CCWD’s board and was not covered by Administrative Order No. 103 on austerity measures in the government.
But COA responded that the CCWD executive’s petition is “bereft of merit” since AO 103 prohibits all foreign travels of government officials, expect for ministerial meetings and trainings undertaken at no cost to the government.
The agency added that government officials are only entitled to receive a travel allowance if the assignment is “urgent and extremely necessary,” as stated under Section 7 of Executive Order No. 248.
COA added that the approval of the board of directors on Villasan’s training was also insufficient to facilitate the disbursement of public funds.
It cited Section 2 of EO 459 in saying Villasan should have first sought the approval of the Department of Public Works and Highways secretary for his training abroad.
“The austerity measures imposed on foreign travel seek to reduce government expenditures. Thus, the proviso ‘urgent and extremely necessary, within minimum expenditure and are expected to bring immediate benefit to the country’,” COA said in the decision.
“As aptly observed by the RD, the attendance of GM Villasan in training abroad entailed significant amount of funds which is in violation of the austerity measures in the government,” it added.
COA ordered the audit team leader and supervising auditor in the case to include the members of CCWD’s board of directors who approved the expenses of Villasan as persons liable.