24 OWWA execs, employees face administrative cases

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) administrator Carmelita Dimzon reported that her office filed administrative cases against 24 officers and personnel for failure to remit collections and to liquidate their cash advances amounting to more than P50 million.

She said most of the reported unremitted collections and unliquidated cash advances were incurred prior to her term in Sept. 2008, but said she had exerted effort to collect from the concerned personnel and overseas posts.

“The Commision on Audit (CoA) report was transmitted to our office on December 2010. The amounts, however, were reduced significantly last October,” Dimzon said.

Of the reported P107 million in unliquidated cash advances dated Dec. 31, 2010, Dimzon said the amount was reduced by 50 percent last Oct. 31.

“Portion of the unliquidated amount was held by seven special disbursing officers who had already died without liquidating their cash advances,” she said.

The OWWA, however, refused to name the officer and personnel since most of them have promised to return the money.

“In the course of our interview with the CoA, which is a standard procedure, we had explained to the auditors the circumstance of the issues, the amounts involved, the OWWA’s predicament in enforcing collection, and the solid, specific steps we have undertaken,” Dimzon said.

She said she had taken a two-pronged approach to address the matter.

“We have sent demand letters to those who are no longer with Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) or OWWA at their last known addresses and withheld all their terminal pay and other monetary benefits. On the other hand, she said collecting officers who are still with the OWWA, but with unremitted collections, had been charged administratively at the DoLE Legal Service and the OWWA Administrative Complaints Committee (OWWA-ACC). We have also withheld their salaries and all monetary benefits,” she added.

Dimzon said she had filed cases at the OWWA-ACC, DoLE Legal Service, and Ombudsman against three erring collections officers under her administration who failed to remit and had sent a demand letter to one labor attache through the DoLE to remit unremitted collections. –Mina Diaz, Daily Tribune