A Notice of Disallowance (ND) issued by the Commission on Audit (CoA), along with an order to return disallowed government funds, remains enforceable even if a petition is filed before the Supreme Court, unless the High Court issues a temporary restraining order (TRO), a state auditor testified on Wednesday.

Lawyer Roderick Wamil, an auditor formerly with the CoA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, made the clarification during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte after Senator-judge Imee Marcos asked whether CoA notices and decisions became final once challenged in the Supreme Court.

The audit findings at issue involved the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), both of which were cited over the alleged misuse of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023.

According to Wamil, the OVP was ordered to return P72.28 million for 2022 and P375 million for 2023. The DepEd, meanwhile, had yet to receive a formal restitution order.

Marcos then asked if elevating the case to the Supreme Court would prevent the enforcement of the CoA ruling.

Wamil said that filing a petition for certiorari did not automatically suspend the implementation of a Notice of Disallowance or the corresponding restitution order.

“I’ll just clarify, when it gets brought to the Supreme Court, the only grounds are grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction, so factual matters are not involved,” Wamil said.