The Commission on Audit has ordered officials and employees of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to refund the P192.19 million they received as an "achievement bonus" eight years ago, tagging the disbursement as an "irregular expenditure."

The CoA Commission Proper denied the petition for review, which it allowed despite having been filed beyond the six months set under Presidential Decree 1445 in an eight-page decision.

William Hotchkiss III, a former director general of the CAAP, and five other agency officials filed the petition on 28 December 2015, asking for the lifting of the 19 notices of disallowance issued against the "achievement bonus."

Auditors labeled the "achievement bonus" as an "irregular expenditure," noting that the P192.19 million was not included in the 2014 CAAP Corporate Operating Budget.

The CAAP had earlier defended the payment by citing fiscal autonomy and claiming that the funds came from operational savings from its corporate budget.

The CoA Corporate Government Sector cluster director, on the other hand, upheld the audit team's findings that CAAP should have acquired the Office of the President's approval before granting the bonus, notwithstanding its fiscal independence and the board of directors' power to decide on compensation and benefits.

It added that the fund for bonuses granted to officials in the middle of 2014 was unlikely to have originated from supposed savings as no savings could be claimed until the end of the fiscal year.

CAAP officials argued that since the majority of the eight members of the board of directors were Cabinet secretaries and were each regarded as an alter ego of the President under the principle of qualified political agency, clearance from then-President Benigno Aquino III was unnecessary.

The CoA, however, rejected the claim, affirming that the "imprimatur from the President is indispensable" in any salary increase or compensation of government-owned or controlled enterprises.