Auditors quiz PTV on P 190-M salaries

Around P189.78 million in salaries paid to employees of the People’s Television Network Inc. (PTV) last year are at risk of being disallowed because of the lack of supporting documents.

The state media network was also called out for granting over P8.08 million in rice subsidies and educational assistance to officers and employees in 2020 without seeking approval from the Office of the President as required by law.

According to the Commission on Audit (COA), the “legality, validity and accuracy of the payments of the salaries could not be ascertained” due to the network’s nonsubmission of properly filled out and signed/approved daily time records (DTRs).

In its 2020 audit report on the agency, the COA remarked that the “practice of submitting incomplete supporting documents” such as DTRs for the payment of employees’ salaries had been going on for several years.

This, it added, was contrary to Presidential Decree No. 1445 or the 1978 Government Auditing Code, and a 2012 COA circular on the required documents for processing payments for salaries and wages.

The COA reiterated its recommendation made in previous years that the network require its administrative division to submit the necessary documents because “otherwise, the payments will be suspended in audit.”

Around P135.65 million of the P189.78 million was for the salaries of contract of service (COS) personnel while P52.57 million was for regular employees and P1.54 million was for contractual workers. The sum was inclusive of withholding taxes and other mandatory deductions.

Although the DTRs of COS personnel from January to June 2020 were submitted, these were returned as they were not signed by the personnel concerned and lacked the approval of supervisors.

It asked the network to immediately submit the properly accomplished DTRs in support of employees’ salaries from 2018 to 2020 “to avoid the issuance of a notice of suspension.”

The PTV was also flagged for granting over P8.08 million in rice subsidies and educational assistance to officials and employees last year without the President’s approval.

State auditors said the Department of Budget and Management had disapproved the P16.72-million fund in the state media firm’s corporate operating budget for the said allowances “for lack of legal basis.”

Payment for the allowances was based on the benefits and incentives listed under the collective negotiation agreement between the network and the People’s Television Employees Association.

But without the President’s approval, “the grant/payment of the rice subsidy and educational assistance to network officials and employees has no legal basis and [is] contrary to Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 1597.”

The agency was advised to require officials and employees to “refund the rice subsidy and educational assistance amounting to P5.629 million and P2.457 million, respectively, to avoid audit suspension and/or disallowance.”

It was also called out for P7.415 million in unliquidated cash advances for travel and other expenses.