PASTOR
PASTOR
FACTS: The City of Basilan, by ordinance, created the position of Assistant
City Auditor in1954. PR Miguel Antonio as such. In 1964, the city
abolished the position, deleting the position from the plantilla and
specifying no compensation for the office. Respondents contested the
authority of the City of Basilan to abolish the position.
FACTS: COA disallowed the monetary reward as part of the Exemplary
Public Service Award (EPSA) to former three-term councilors of the City
of Manila. Petitioners claimed that the power and authority of COA to
audit government funds and accounts does not carry with it all instances
the power to disallow a particular disbursement.
ISSUE: WON the City of Basilan can dissolve the office of Assistant City
Auditor by ordinance.
ISSUE: Whether or not COA has the authority to disallow the
disbursement of local government funds.
RULING: NO.
The Office of the Assistant City Auditor is not just a municipal creation. It
is part and parcel of a highly responsible task, national in scope, that of
auditing.
RULING: YES.
COA is vested with the authority to determine whether government
entities, including Local Government Units (LGUs), comply with laws and
regulations in disbursing government funds, and to disallow illegal or
irregular disbursements of these funds.
The office of Assistant City Auditor is dissimilar from that of a city
employee. It comes within the purview of the Auditor General, a
constitutionally created position. It is a position primarily under the
General Auditing Office. Therefore, the City of Basilan does not have sole
jurisdiction over the position, much less the power to abolish it.
TAKE NOTE: Previous ruling of the Court re bringing to the attention of
the proper administrative body any irregular, unnecessary, excessive or
extravagant expenditure of public funds as COA’s remedy has already
been overturned.
Case No. 1063
Art. IX-D, Sec. 2: Commission on Audit; Decide Administrative Cases
Involving Expenditures of Public Funds
City of Basilan v. Hechanova, 58 SCRA 711 [1974]
Case No. 1064
Art. IX-D, Sec. 3: COA Jurisdiction
Luciano Veloso v. Commisssion on Audit, GR 193677, 6 September
2011