BACOLOD City Councilor Wilson Gamboa said Thursday, February 16, that there is no legal basis to delay the release of the Emergency Cost Living Allowance (Ecola) of public school teachers in the city.
Gamboa said on May 16, 2016, Jose Mario Española Española, fiscal clerk II of Management and Audit Services, sent a letter addressed to former mayor Monico Puentevella to refrain from charging non-related expenses to the Special Education Fund (SEF).
He also told Puentevella to strictly adhere to the regulations on the prioritization of expenses charged against SEF as provided for in the implementing rules and regulations of the Local Government Code Republic Act 7610, and the payment for Ecola should be refunded by Puentevella.
Gamboa sent his response to the City Council on February 15 and it was discussed during the regular session.
He said that Española's letter to the former mayor which cited certain provision of the law does not in any way form the legal opinion of the City Legal Office, which should have been the right office to give legal advice to the mayor.
He added that the release of the Ecola is provided for in the Supreme Court case entitled "the Commission on Audit of the Province of Cebu versus Province of Cebu (G.R. No. 141386 November 29, 2001)," which covers the teachers' benefits relative to availability of the SEF.
"By virtue of the above mentioned decision of the Supreme Court, there should be no reason to hold the allowances especially the Ecola of public school teachers coming from SEF. The city has no legal and moral basis to hold or delay the release of teachers' Ecola," Gamboa added.