PSC modifies payroll process

The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) will be imposing changes to make sure that the payroll-padding scheme that saw the agency losing around P14 million in five years won’t happen again.

PSC officer-in-charge Ramon Fernandez said they would be modifying the payroll process of the national athletes and coaches in the wake of the massive fraud committed by one of their employees.

National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Paul Ignacio, an information technology expert and a staff at the PSC personnel department, on Monday after being found out to be entering his account number next to the names of inactive athletes and coaches.

He started this fraud in August 2015 until the Landbank of the Philippines flagged his payroll account for trying to enter more than P450,000 in the June payment period.

Sources told Daily Tribune that at one point, he was withdrawing around P50,000 daily, a sum that is way too much for an ordinary government employee.

He already underwent inquest proceeding and is now facing qualified theft and falsification of public document in relation to cyber crime law.

Fernandez said it was a “lesson learned” for the agency that had to slash the allowance and salaries of athletes and coaches by 50 percent after the Department of Budget and Management ordered it to redirect its resources to the country’s fight against coronavirus pandemic.

“Even before, there were already suggestions to properly check the list of athletes and their corresponding salaries,” said Fernandez, who is leading the agency in behalf of chairman William “Butch” Ramirez.

Fernandez suggested that they should change the release schedule of the allowance and salaries of the national team to give them more time that only the qualified recipients would be on the list and correct information were entered.