SC stops COA order vs DBP productivity perks

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has granted the petition of state-run Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to stop a Commission on Audit (COA) order to return over P170 million ($3.854 million*) in benefits given to the bank’s employees.

“The court granted the prayer of petitioner DBP for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the enforcement of the ruling of the COA disallowing the one-time grant of the Governance Forum Productivity Award (GFPA) in the sum of P170,893,689.00 to the employees of DBP,” high court’s spokesperson Theodore Te said.

“The TRO is effective immediately and until further orders from the court,” Te further said.

The GFPA consisted of allowances, including economic and amelioration, and merit increases, among others. It was approved by the DBP board to help “achieve industrial peace” amid a labor dispute between the bank and its employees over allowances.

In a ruling last year, the COA rejected the petition of the DBP seeking the recall of the notice of disallowance issued by the COA-Fraud Audit and Investigation Office in 2006.

The office said the GFPA had no legal basis since it was a “compromise agreement.”

The COA held that the DBP board’s power to set the remuneration and other emoluments of the bank’s executives and employees was not absolute but subject to existing rules and regulations.

The COA also did not give weight to the insistence of the DBP management that its employees received the money in good faith. – Rappler.com

*$1=P44.35