G.R. No. 246173 - NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION (TransCo), VS. COMMISSION ON AUDIT [COA], AND HON. MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO, CHAIRPERSON, COA.

Ruling

WHEREFORE , foregoing premises considered, the instant Appeals are hereby PARTIALLY GRANTED . Accordingly, only the Members of the Board of Directors responsible for the passage of Resolution Nos. TC 2009-005 and TC 2009-007 and the officers who authorized the release of funds and certified the expense as necessary and lawful are hereby ordered to refund the amount of disallowed retirement benefits they respectively received. All other payees may no longer be required to refund the amount disallowed. [24] (Emphases and underscoring in the original.) COA Proper Ruling Upon automatic review, the COA Proper, in Decision No. 2018-329 [25] dated July 9, 2018, affirmed the COA CGS-Cluster 3 Director's Decision with modification. The COA Proper sustained all the disallowances, as well as the exoneration of all the payees from the liability to return the disallowed benefits that they received on the ground of good faith. The liability of the members of the BOD and the approving and certifying officers as held by the COA CGS-Cluster 3 Director was, however, modified in light of the Court's ruling in the cases of Lopez , [26] National Transmission Corporation v. Commission on Audit [27] ( 2016 TransCo Case ), and National Transmission Corporation v. COA [28] ( February 2018 TransCo Case ) in this wise: WHEREFORE , premises considered, [COA COS - Cluster 3] Decision No. 2013-10 dated October 10, 2013, which partially granted the consolidated appeals of the [TransCo], Quezon City, is PARTIALLY APPROVED . Accordingly, Notice of Disallowance (ND) Nos. 12-003 (10) to 12-008 (10), and 12-003 (09) to 12-007 (09) issued on various dates, on the payment of separation benefits to its employees in the total amount of [P]51,989,990.91, are AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION , thus: 1. All the payees who received the separation pay in good faith need not refund the total disallowed amount of [P]51,989,990.91; 2. The officials who certified and approved the payment, as well as the members of the [TransCo] Board of Directors (BOD) are exempt from the obligation to refund the separation pay under ND Nos. 12-003 (10) to 12-005 (10), 12-007 (10) to 12-008 (10), 12-003 (09), and 12-005 (09) to 12-007 (09) amounting to [P]50,501,712.91, in light of the rulings or the Supreme Court in [TransCo] vs. COA . However, the excess amount of separation pay under ND Nos. 12-005 (10) to 12-006 (10), 12-004 (09) to 12-005 (09), and 12-007 (09), amounting to [P]1,488,278.00, shall remain to be the solidary liability of the officials named liable in the latter NDs. The Audit Team Leader and the Supervising Auditor, [TransCo], shall verify the participation of the [TransCo] BOD in the payments disallowed under ND Nos. 12-005 (10) to 12-006 (10), 12-004 (09), to 12-005 (09), and 12-007 (09), and issue a Supplemental ND, if warranted. [29] (Emphases in the original.) Dissatisfied, TransCo filed this petition that questions the COA Proper's ruling only insofar as it affirmed the disallowance of the ad