G.R. No. 252171 - EDITO A.G. BALINTONA, VS. HON. MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS THE CHAIRPERSON-COMMISSIONER, HON. JOSE A. FABIA & HON. ROLAND C. PONDOC, IN THEIR CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONERS, ALL OF THE COMMISSION ON AUDIT.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Notice of Disallowance Nos. 13-001-100(09), 13-002-100(09), 13-003-100(10) are hereby modified and set aside accordingly. Consequently, a Notice of Suspension for [PHP]30 Million be issued instead. Let a letter of demand be issued by appropriate authorities for former Congressman Roque R. Ablan, Jr. to produce or account for the recalled/transferred funds. The herein decision is not final and is subject to automatic review by the Commission Proper consistent with Section 7, Rule V of the 2009 Revised Rules of Procedure of this Commission. [63] COA-CP Decision and Resolution On automatic review, the COA-Commission Proper (COA-CP) disapproved the COA-RD's Decision. [64] It upheld the issuance of the three Notices of Disallowance and affirmed petitioner's liability. The COA-CP held that the three PDAF transfers were all irregular, if not, illegal because the funds could not be legally transferred to a non-implementing agency. [65] Moreover, PDAF allocations are in the nature of trust funds which could only be used for the specific purpose for which it was created or for which it came into the possession of the local government unit. Thus, the Municipality is charged with the responsibility of implementing the projects. [66] As Chief Executive of the Municipality, it was petitioner's duty to conscientiously disburse the fund. Instead, it was pursuant to his express instructions that the subject PDAF funds were disposed of in contravention of the purpose for which they were allotted. [67] The COA-CP held that the written requests of Ablan are beyond the allowable participation of legislators sanctioned by Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) v. Enriquez [68] ( Philconsa ) and it was petitioner's act of giving in to the written requests of Ablan which constitutes his direct participation in the disallowed transaction. [69] Furthermore, petitioner cannot feign ignorance on the PDAF system, more so that he is a member of the Philippine Bar. The COA-CP thus ruled that petitioner's liability under the provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1445 [70] and Republic Act No. 7160 [71] on the liability for unlawful expenditures was indisputable. The dispositive portion of the assailed COA-CP Decision reads: WHEREFORE , premises considered, Commission on Audit Regional Office No. I Decision No. 2014-007 dated August 6, 2014 is hereby DISAPPROVED . Accordingly, Notice of Disallowance Nos. 13-001-100(09), 13-002-100(09), and 13-003-100(10) all dated September 19, 2013, on the transfer of Priority Development Assistance Funds from the Municipality of Sarrat, Ilocos Norte to the 1 st Congressional District of Ilocos Norte, in the amount of [PHP]30,000,000.00, are hereby AFFIRMED . Additionally, the Audit Team Leader and the Supervising Auditor are directed to issue a Supplemental ND for the inclusion of the members of the [ Sangguniang ] Bayan of Sarat, Ilocos Norte, who passed Resolution Nos. 2009-01, 2009-37, and 2009-65, a