The Rules on Return In view of the foregoing discussion, the Court pronounces: 1. If a Notice of Disallowance is set aside by the Court, no return shall be required from any of the persons held liable therein. 2. If a Notice of Disallowance is upheld, the rules on return are as follows: 107 Id. at 619. ws Id. a. Approving and certifying officers who acted in good faith, in regular performance of official functions, and with the diligence of a good father of the family are not civilly liable to return consistent with Section 3 8 of the Administrative Code of 1987. b. Approving and certifying officers who are clearly shown to have acted in bad faith, malice, or gross negligence are, pursuant to Section 43 of the Administrative Code of 1987, solidarily liable to return only the net disallowed amount which, as discussed herein, excludes amounts excused under the following sections 2c and 2d;c. Recipients -whether approving or certifying officers or mere passive recipients -are liable to return the disallowed amounts respectively received by them, unless they are able to show that the amounts they received were genuinely given in consideration of services rendered. d. The Court may likewise excuse the return of recipients based on undue prejudice, social justice considerations, and other bona fide exceptions as it may determine on a case to case basis. Undoubtedly, consistent with the statements made by Justice Inting, the ultimate analysis of each case would still depend on the facts presented, and these rules are meant only to harmonize the previous conflicting rulings by the Court as regards the return of disallowed amounts -after the determination of the good faith of the parties based on the unique facts obtaining in a specific case has been made. To reiterate, the assessment of the presumptions of good faith and regularity in the performance of official functions and proof thereof will be done by the Court on a case-to-case basis. Moreover, the additional guidelines eloquently presented by Justice Leonen will greatly aid the Court in determining the good faith of officers and resultantly, whether or not they should be held solidarily liable in disallowed transactions.
xx x For one to be absolved ofliability the following requisites [ may be considered] : (1) Certificates of Availability of Funds pursuant to Section 40 of the Administrative Code, (2) In-house or Department of Justice legal opinion, (3) that there is no precedent disallowing a similar case in jurisprudence, (4) that it is traditionally practiced within the agency and no prior disallowance has been issued, [or] (5) with regard the question oflaw, that there is a reasonable textual interpretation on its legality. 59 Thus, to the extent that these badges of good faith and diligence are applicable to both approving and certifying officers, these should be considered before holding these officers, whose participation in the disallowed transaction was in the performance of their official duties, liable. The presence of any of these factors in a case may tend to uphold the presumption of good faith in the performance of official functions accorded to the officers involved, which must always be examined relative to the circumstances attending therein
No comments:
Post a Comment