GRANTING of stipend amounting to almost a million pesos to the officers and staff of the Provincial Government-owned Misamis Oriental Telephone System (MisOrtel) violates Section 4 (7) of the Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1445 law, the Commission on Audit (COA) report read.
In the audit observation memorandum (AOM) dated June 14, Virginia M. Del Rosario, State Auditor IV and audit team leader, reported that the audited financial operations of Misortel showed that the Provincial Capitol paid an amount of P808,000 as stipend to MisOrtel officers and employees “without legal basis” since it contradicted Section 4 (7) of PD No. 1445.
“Audit of Misortel operations for the months of January to March 2013 disclosed payment of honoraria to officers and employees of the Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental totaling to P808,000,” the AOM read.
It added, “the grant of monthly honoraria at P197,000 without income tax has no legal basis since MisOrtel is an economic enterprise of the province.”
The AOM defines that a COA memorandum dated December 2, 2008 ruled out that MisOrtel is indeed a government corporation owned by the Provincial Government as one of its economic enterprises classified as public utilities pursuant to Section 313 of Republic Act (RA) No. 7160.
It also stated that “the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Budget Review for CY 2013 finally resolved that MisOrtel remains to be a Local Economic Enterprise classified under Section 313 and compliance with Section 325 and 326 of RA 7160 requiring DBM review of its Board approved annual budget.”
rStipend for SP members
Among those who received P10,000 each are provincial board members Jabi Bernaldez, Jimmy Caiña, Geodeguil Ursal, Emmanuel Mugot, Jesus Jardin, Benedict Lagbas, Jeremy Pelaez, Heckert Emano, Arsenio Khu, Mary Grace Acain, Arish Canonigo.
The Board members were all board of directors of MisOrtel.
Except for Ursal, the Board members have received the amount since December 2012 until March 2013.
Former Governor and now Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno received a stipend of P14,000 as president while former Vice Governor Norris Babiera received a monthly P12,000 stipend as vice president of MisOrtel.
Other MisOrtel employees received P7,500, P5,000 and P3,000 monthly stipend.
u201dBased on the facts, it is evident that the payment of honoraria to the officers and employees of the belonging to MisOrtel violates Section 4(7) of PD 1145 since it is an economic enterprise of the province,” the AOM noted.
As of this posting, MisOrtel officials have not issued statements on this issue.