Coast Guard officer cleared of liability in P18M disallowance

THE Commission on Audit has cleared former Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Lt. Commander Eric Ferranculo of any liability in connection with the disallowance issued against the overpriced procurement of equipment and shipboard spare parts in 2007.

Despite the issuance of an order of execution dated June 14, 2018 and a 2017 Supreme Court ruling that has already attained finality, the COA en banc said it found compelling grounds to grant the PCG officer’s petition for relief from judgement.

“In the interest of substantial justice and due to circumstances that permit relaxation of the doctrine of immutability of judgment, this Commission shall take cognizance of his appeal, in accordance with the ruling of the SC in the case of Estalilla vs. COA on the exceptions to the rule on immutability of judgments,” the commission said.

Based on audit records, a purchase order was issued on Dec. 20, 2007 for the procurement of P17.95 million worth of equipment and ship spare parts.

Auditors questioned the validity of the transactions, resulting in the issuance of a notice of disallowance on April 24, 2008 wherein several PCG officials and personnel were held liable.

Ferranculo said he was aware of the disallowance and had submitted his explanation that he was included by mistake, because he had no participation in the procurement and did not attend any meetings/proceedings pertaining to the purchases. However, he was dismayed to discover later on that his concerns were not submitted to the COA until the issuance of the notice of the execution.

COA’s own Prosecution and Litigation Office, in a memorandum dated Jan. 4, 2022, said that enforcing the ruling by withholding the salaries of Ferranculo would not serve the ends of justice as it noted the absence of any evidence to show that the officer was a member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the spare parts procurement.

Ferranculo did work as a member of other TWGs but these were for the Aid to Navigation (ATON) and Marine Environment Program (MEP) which are different from the one covered by the disallowance.

“A petition for relief from judgment is an equitable remedy allowed in exceptional cases when there is no other