Pag-Ibig execs’ retirement package illegal, says COA

MANILA, Philippines–The P130.375-million retirement package given to 60 officials and employees of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) in 2013 was illegal, according to a Commission on Audit (COA) report.

The report, which was released last week, questioned the grant of the Early Retirement Incentive Plan (ERIP) to these employees as this was tantamount to double payment which was against the law.

It said the same beneficiaries already received a total of P52.445-million pay from the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) upon retirement.

“The disbursements of P130,374,667 in ERIP to 60 HDMF officers and employees constitute double payment for being supplementary because ERIP was granted on top of the regular GSIS retirement benefits… rendering the expenditure illegal,” the report said.

The GSIS Act, as amended by Republic Act No. 4968, or the Teves Retirement Law, prohibits the grant of “supplementary retirement benefits” such as the ERIP scheme.

According to the COA, demand letters should be sent out to the concerned retirees to refund the ERIP money.

The report feared that the amount in question could still increase because 17 other retired Pag-Ibig officials were already in the process of filing their claims with the GSIS despite having been paid under ERIP.

It was not the first time that the COA disallowed the grant of ERIP.

In its 2012 audit report, the COA questioned the payment of P37.64-million ERIP to then 20 Pag-Ibig retiring officers and personnel.

On Jan. 24, 2014, it issued notices of disallowance for the 2012 ERIP and demanded from the retirees concerned to refund the ERIP to the government.

In reaction to the 2012 audit findings, Pag-Ibig maintained the ERIP payments were legal and that the recipients were entitled to the sum which was approved through Board Resolution No. 2780 on March 11, 2010.

The COA has already informed the Pag-Ibig management that the 2013 retirement package would also be disallowed.