CoA finds deficiencies in MMDA payroll

The annual audit report of the Commission on Audit (CoA) noted various deficiencies when it came to the handling of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) of its employee payroll.

State auditors said that the inaccuracies led to issues and delay when it came to the payment of mandatory contributions for MMDA’s staff.

In a particular finding, CoA said that the development agency had an unremitted balance of P57.23 million from withheld Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) contributions and loan amortizations.

The amount was reportedly accumulated from differences in the payroll records of the MMDA to the GSIS posting records.

State auditors detailed that the errors came in the form of “unmatched employee contributions, incomplete or inconsistent premium details, and variances in recorded loan balances.”

It was likewise mentioned that some discrepancies had been raised in prior years but have remained unvalidated and unadjusted.

“These conditions require further verification with GSIS before remittances could be fully confirmed and posted,” the audit report read.

CoA said that the issues with GSIS also had an impact on the benefits that the employees would have in terms of their insurance, loan privileges, and retirement benefits as it affected the accuracy of the “Due to GSIS.”

In a separate finding, state auditors identified that the MMDA had yet to resolve remittance issues with the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) amounting to P11.1 million.

Similar to the issues with GSIS, CoA said that the issues revolved around the delays in the validation of prepared remittances and the absence of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) of employees.

Compared to the previous year’s audit, the unremitted PhilHealth balance had reportedly increased by P2.3 million–a matter it deemed as an indication that the “previously identified discrepancies” were not being properly resolved.

“The absence of PINs indicates non-compliance with required personnel information normally obtained as part of the recruitment and onboarding process, resulting in incomplete membership records,” the report stated.

“These conditions indicate weakness in internal controls over statutory remittance processes, particularly in ensuring completeness of employee membership information during hiring,” it added.

State auditors warned that existence of unremitted balances exposed employees of the MMDA to inordinate risks related to PhilHealth benefits.

It noted that the agency may be “held liable for reimbursement of benefit payments and may be subject to penalties, surcharges, or other sanctions for delayed or non-remittance of required contributions.”