The Supreme Court has upheld a Commission on Audit (COA) order to disallow additional allowances to members of the Monetary Board (MB), the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Voting 13-0, the high court unanimously affirmed the legality of orders issued by the COA questioning the extra financial benefits given to Peter Favila and National Economic and Development Authority chief Romulo Neri from 2007 to 2009.
“COA did not abuse the exercise of its discretion as its denial was grounded on the law, facts and circumstances that would warrant such disallowance,” the tribunal said in a 10-page decision.
Associate Justice Noel Tijam, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte on March 8, wrote the decision, which was concurred in by all the justices who participated in the deliberations.