The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been ordered to turn over immediately to the National Treasury over P136 million in accumulated funds intended to compensate victims of unjust imprisonment and violent crimes.
State auditors said the DOJ Board of Claims (BOC) was wrong to use the victims compensation fund (VCF) for honoraria and office expenses.
In its report for 2014, the Commission on Audit (COA) said it had been asking the DOJ since 2008 to turn over to the National Treasury the VCF currently deposited in the Land Bank of the Philippines.
As of end-2014, the VCF had a balance of P136,777,486, after expenses totaling P9,471,039 were charged to the fund last year.
The COA said the BOC last June offered to turn over half of the deposit as of May, but the audit agency insisted on taking the entire P136 million and all subsequent collections.
The BOC under the DOJ was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 7309 which was passed on March 30, 1992, to compensate victims of unjust imprisonment or detention and violent crimes.
A claim must be filed with the board within six months of release from prison or from the date of injury.
Under the law, victims of unjust imprisonment could receive up to P1,000 per month of imprisonment, while victims of violent crimes may receive up to P10,000.
The COA said the government in the national budget provides for the BOC’s operational expenses and payment of claims.
But the VCF is also entitled to P5 from the filing fee of every civil case filed in court, one percent from the net earnings of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and one percent from the sale of military camps in Metro Manila.
The COA said Executive Order 338 issued in 1996 orders that “all existing balances of trust receipts deposited with authorized government depository banks are hereby required to be deposited with the National Treasury.”–Dona Z. Pazzibugan with Jerome Aning