MEMORANDUM

No. : 2010-027
Date: October 26, 2010

TO

All COA Officials and Employees

SUBJECT

Restatement with Clarifications and Amendments of COA Memorandum

No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009

To enhance the administrative procedures and guidelines prescribed under COA

Memorandum No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009, re: Administrative Guidelines under the 2008
COA Organization Restructuring, a restatement with clarifications and amendments, is hereby
issued.
I. Official Domestic Travels, Daily Time Records, and Leave Applications
1.

Official domestic travels outside of the designated official station, and with claims for
traveling expenses shall be covered by a duly approved Travel Order and Itinerary of
Travel. All other cases, including travels of audit personnel in the National Capital
Region (NCR) outside of designated official station but still within the same Region,
shall be supported with a locator slip which may be transmitted thru e-mail/fax to the
approving official concerned.

2.

Official domestic travels regardless of destination and duration, Daily Time Records,
and leave applications shall be approved in accordance with the delineation in Table I
Table I
Approval of Official Domestic Travels, DTRs
and Leave Applications
COA Personnel
Assistant Commissioner
Chief Executive Staff and other
Heads of Offices under the Office
of the Chairman and the Office of
the Commission Secretariat

Documents For Approval

Travel Order
DTRs
Leave application regardless of
duration, and with or without
travel abroad

Approving Official

COA Chairman
Director IV/Officer-in-Charge
Director III and Personnel with
SG 26 and below

Leave application without

travels abroad, exceeding six
months
Leave application with travel
abroad, exceeding three months

COA Personnel
Documents For Approval
Staff, Office of the Chairman, and Travel Order
of the Office of the Commission DTR
Secretariat
Locator slips
Leave application without
travel abroad, not exceeding six
months
Leave application with travel
abroad, not exceeding three
months
Staff,
Offices
of
Commissioner I and II

the Travel Order

Leave application without
travel abroad, for more than
one month but not
exceeding six months
Leave application, with
travel abroad, not exceeding
three months
Locator Slips
DTRs
Leave application without
travel abroad, not
exceeding one month

Staff, Office of the Assistant

Commissioner

Director III and Personnel with

SG 25 and SG 26, including
Heads of Services (Divisions)

Personnel with SG-24 and below

(except the Support Staff of the
Office of the Director)

DTRs
Leave application without
travel abroad, not
exceeding six months
Leave application, with
travel abroad, not exceeding
three months
Travel Order
DTRs
Locator slips
Leave application without
travel abroad, not
exceeding six months
Leave application, with
travel abroad, not exceeding
three months

Approving Official
Head of Office/Chief
of Staff

COA Commissioner

Chief of Staff

Assistant
Commissioner

Head of Office

Travel Order
Leave application without
travel abroad, for more than
one month but not
exceeding six months
Leave application, with
travel abroad, not

COA Personnel

Documents For Approval

exceeding three months

Approving Official

Support Staff of the Office of the

Director (All Offices)

Travel Order
DTRs
Locator slips
Leave application without
travel abroad not exceeding
six months
Leave application with
travel abroad, not
exceeding three months

Director IV, or
Director III upon
delegation by the
Director IV or in the
latters absence

Personnel with SG-24 and below

assigned at the Services
(Division)

Leave application without

travel abroad, not
exceeding one month

Director III or Head

of Office in the
absence of Director
III

Audit Team Leaders/Members, Leave applications without

and Support Staff of the Audit travel abroad exceeding two
weeks but not more than one
Group
month
Personnel with SG-24 and below
assigned at the Services
(Division)

Locator Slips
DTRs

Audit Team Leaders/Members, Locator Slips

and Support Staff of the Audit DTRs
Group
Leave application without
travel abroad, not
exceeding two weeks

Head of Services
(Division)

Head of Audit Group/

Supervising Auditor

3.

Travel orders, locator slips, DTRs, and leave applications for approval by the COA
Chairman shall be initialed by the Assistant Commissioners concerned.

4.

The Regional Directors/Directors-in-Charge of COA Regional Offices may travel within

their respective regions of assignment/regional jurisdiction without prior authority from
the COA Chairman however, with proper advice to the Regional Coordination Office
through email or fax of their whereabouts. In case the travel within the region entails
payment of per diem or allowance (i.e., travel beyond the 50-kilometer radius), the
Regional Director shall secure prior authority from the COA Chairman to support said
payment.

5.

All official domestic travels for the purpose of attending seminars, conventions and the
like shall be approved by the COA Chairman through a signed office order.

6.

Within the month after the end of each quarter, Heads of Offices shall submit to the
Office of the Chairman a report on the Travel Orders he/she issued for the quarter,
showing the following information:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

Travel Order number and date

Name(s), position and official station of person(s) authorized to travel
Inclusive period of travel
Destination
Purpose of travel

7.

Approval of leave of absence for 30 days or more without travel abroad shall be
supported by a duly approved COA Central Office Clearance in case of Central
Office/NCR personnel, and by a Regional Clearance in case of all other personnel.

8.

Approval of all leave applications for leave of absence for personal travel abroad shall
be supported by:
a. a duly approved COA Central Office Clearance (CCOC) issued by the
Director, HRMO, regardless of place of assignment;
b. a duly approved COA Regional Office Clearance issued by the Regional
Director, in case of regional personnel;
c. a duly approved auditee clearance for Audit Group Supervising Auditors,
Audit Team Leaders and Members; and
d. a medical certificate in case of sick leave.

9.

Applications for vacation leave without the required clearances shall be filed at least five
working days before the intended absence, while applications for leave of absence with
requests for personal travel abroad, regardless of duration shall be filed one month
before the scheduled leave/travel to give enough time for the processing and routing of
the required clearances.

II. Working Hours and Record of Attendance

1.

All COA personnel shall render not less than eight hours of work a day for five days a
week or a total of forty hours a week, exclusive of time for lunch. Flexible working
hours allowed under COA Memorandum No. 2002-057 dated 4 October 2002 shall in no
case be less than the herein prescribed number of working hours. Employees authorized
by this Commission to follow the flexi-time work schedule or four-days-a-week work
schedule of the agency where they are assigned are hereby reminded that regardless of
their work schedule, all employees shall attend the flag-raising ceremony on Mondays
and the flag retreat on Fridays.

In case the flexi-time or four-days-a-week schedule of the audited agency provides for a
day and time different from the regular schedules for the flag raising/retreat ceremonies,
the COA personnel authorized to avail of such work schemes shall follow the audited
agencys flag ceremony and flag retreat schedules.
2.

Within three working days from the end of each month, all personnel shall sign their
DTRs and submit them with the approved leave application, locator slip, office order,
reassignment order, travel order, medical certificate, clearances, or other supporting
documents as may be necessary, to their immediate supervisors.

3.

All records of attendance shall be summarized in the Monthly Report of Absences and
Undertimes (MRAU) in the manner prescribed under item III of this Memorandum.

4.

The Chiefs of Services (Divisions), Audit Group Supervising Auditors, Audit Team
Leaders, or their designated staff, shall:
a. Conduct random check on entries in the submitted DTRs against entries in the
attendance logbook;
b. Sign DTR/Bundy card certifying as to correctness of entries therein;
c. Forward to the designated staff, described under Item II.4 below, the signed
DTRs/Bundy cards, together with leave applications, locator slips, office orders,
reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificates, clearances and other
supporting documents within five working days from the end of the month.

5.

Each Head of Office shall designate a responsible staff who shall:

a. Check completeness of documents attached to the MRAU and ensure that:
i. DTRs are signed by the personnel and the immediate supervisor;
ii. Approved leave applications, locator slips, medical certificates, and
clearances are attached, where applicable;
iii. Office Orders, Reassignment Orders, Travel Orders are likewise
attached, if applicable;
b. Review the computation of the undertimes and absences incurred;
c. Post leaves for the month to the Leave Cards, using the Table of Equivalents
(Annex A)
d. Balance/Update Leave Cards, add earned leave credits for the month and deduct
undertimes and absences incurred;
e. Report Leave Without Pay (LWOP) to the Regional Accountant, in case of
employees covered by Regional Payroll, or to the Accounting Office, Planning
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Finance and Management Sector, in case of employees covered by the Central

Payroll Information System (CPIS) for salary deduction or billing;
f. Send call-up letters/memos to employees with unsubmited DTRs;
g. Prepare the MRAU discussed under Item III below, certify as to its correctness,
and cause its approval by the Head of Office;
h. Ensure submission of the reviewed/approved MRAU to the HRMO following the
timeline prescribed under Item III.4 below;
i. Be responsible for the safekeeping and filing of the DTRs, approved leave
applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders, travel orders,
medical certificate, clearances and other documents supporting the MRAU and
for their safekeeping, retrieval, retention, and coordination with the Records
Management Services, GSO for their disposition following the approved Revised
Records Disposition Schedule of the Commission;
j. Reconcile leave credit records maintained with those maintained by the Human
Resource Welfare Services, HRMO.
6.

The Head of Office shall have the following responsibilities insofar as MRAU
processing, leave administration and monitoring of attendance are concerned:
a. Review and approve the MRAU and cause its submission to the HRMO within
the timeline prescribed under item III.4 hereof;
b. See that call-up letters are sent to employees with unsubmitted DTRs;
c. Ensure that letters are sent to personnel who are AWOL to inform/remind them of
pertinent regulations;
d. Ensure that notices concerning employees on LWOP are immediately sent to the
Accounting Office/Regional Accountant to avoid salary overpayment; and
e. See that the Offices leave credit records are reconciled with those maintained by
Human Resource Welfare Services, HRMO.

7.

To provide all COA personnel with a reliable basis for the determination of their
attendance records and leave credits earned, and assist supervisors in monitoring
attendance of their respective staff, the Director, HRMO shall:
a. Cause the recording and updating of monthly leave credit records of all COA
personnel based on the MRAUs received; and
b. Provide the Heads of Office with a quarterly summary of leave credit balances of
their respective personnel for guidance in approving leave applications and for
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reconciliation with leave credit records maintained by said Offices, within ten
working days from the end of the quarter.
8.

Action on the requests for manual entries shall be in accordance with the following:
a. When the chronolog machine or the Bundy clock is out of order, the employee
concerned shall fill out the Request for Manual Entry form on the same day that
the machine malfunctioned or is undergoing repair or maintenance, or on the next
working day, if the malfunction/repair happened when he was about to log out at
the end of a working day.
b. An employee may be allowed to have manual entry in his/her DTR, when, in the
interest of the service, he/she is directed to perform work continuously so that no
time is left for him to pause and register in the chronolog machine or punch his
DTR in the Bundy clock.
c. Request for manual entries shall be supported by the employees signature in the
attendance logbook corresponding to the period covered by his request, and the
request for manual entries shall be verified and approved by the Head of Services
(Division) or Head of Office concerned.
d. The immediate supervisor approving the request for manual entries shall carefully
assess the veracity of the logbook entries. Logbook entries that are clearly later
insertions, or are unreasonably or suspiciously delayed in being entered in the
logbook shall be discouraged and, upon repetition, be disapproved outright.

9.

The Audit Group Supervising Auditors, Heads of Services/Divisions, other personnel

occupying Salary Grade 26 positions and holders of Attorney positions shall be exempt
from using the Bundy clock for recording their office attendance. However, they shall
register their attendance in a logbook for the purpose and prepare their DTRs to be
attached to the MRAU under Item III. The exact time in coming in and going out of the
office shall be reflected in both the logbook and the DTR, and the practice of simply
indicating FULL TIME SERVICE in the DTR shall be discontinued and disallowed.

III. Monthly Report of Absences and Undertimes (MRAU)

1.

All COA personnel shall accomplish/sign their respective DTRs for a given month
within the first three days of the following month, and submit the same, together with
supporting documents, if applicable, to their respective supervisors for
approval/signature. COA personnel without DTR for a given month without a valid
justification shall be considered AWOL for that month, and this declaration of being
AWOL shall be so stated in the MRAU. For such personnel, the MRAU shall indicate
NO SUBMITTED/APPROVED DTR, HENCE CONSIDERED AWOL opposite their
names. This notation or indication in the MRAU may be used as basis for reporting of
the personnel concerned to the Accounting Office, Planning, Finance and Management
Sector (PFMS), for deletion from the payroll in accordance with Item IV of this
Memorandum.
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2.

The MRAU shall be certified correct by the designated staff under Item II.4 and
approved by the Head of Office.

3.

The MRAU submitted to the approving official shall be supported with DTRs, and, if
applicable, approved leave applications, locator slips, office orders, reassignment orders,
travel orders, medical certificates, clearances, and/or other documents.

4.

The MRAU as signed by the approving officer, and without any attachment/supporting
document, shall be submitted to the Director HRMO in accordance with the following
timelines:
a. Head of Office/Chief of Staff shall submit the MRAUs of the offices in the
Central Office (except those covered under Item III.4.b below) within seven
working days after the end of each month.
b. For audit clusters with component audit groups/audit teams in the National
Capital Region, the Cluster Director shall submit the MRAUs within ten working
days from the end of each month.
c. For Regional Offices, the Regional Directors/Directors-in-Charge shall submit
their MRAUs within 20 working days from the end of each month.

5.

To ensure completeness and timeliness of the submitted MRAUs, the Head of Office
who approves MRAU shall see to it that:
a. It covers all personnel in all services/divisions, audit groups, audit teams and
other component units under his/her supervision who are not yet separated from
the service;
b. It is submitted with complete documentation requirements to serve as basis for
his/her action - DTRs, approved leave applications, locator slips, office orders,
reassignment orders, travel orders, medical certificate, clearances and other
applicable documents. In case of personnel without the required documents, the
unsubmitted documents shall be specified in the MRAU opposite the name of the
personnel concerned, and the covering transmittal memorandum shall state the
reasons for their non-submission and the action taken by the Office. These
supporting documents, however, shall no longer be attached to the MRAU to be
submitted to the HRMO.
c. It is submitted within the prescribed period. In case of Regional Offices, the
fastest but economical means to submit the MRAU must be employed.

IV.

6.

The MRAU shall be the basis for recording leave credits in the leave cards to be
maintained by the Offices and the Human Resource Welfare Services, HRMO.

7.

Within 30 working days after the end of each month, the Director, HRMO, shall submit
to the Sector Heads and Chiefs of Staff, in case of offices in the COA Central Office,
and to the Head of the Regional Coordination Office for regional offices, a report on the
status of submission of the MRAUs, for their information/monitoring.

Notification of Absences Without Approved Leave, Habitual Absenteeism Without

Sufficient Leave Credits and Non-Submission of DTRs
1.

To avoid the incurrence of overpayment of salaries, it shall be the responsibility of those

who have immediate supervision over the personnel concerned to notify immediately the
HRMO, Administration Sector, and the Accounting Office, Planning, Finance and
Management Sector, of the personnel concerned in the following circumstances:
a. Habitual absences exceeding the allowable 2.5 days monthly leave credits under
the Leave Law for at least three (3) months in a semester or at last three (3)
consecutive months during the year (per CSC Memorandum Circular No. 23, s.
1998; or
b. Continuous absences covering a period of 30 or more calendar days without
approved leave application (per CSC Memorandum Circular No. 12, s. 1994 and
COA Memorandum No. 83-340) and with insufficient leave credits; or
c. Approved leave of absence and/or personal travel abroad of personnel whose
leave credit balance is insufficient to cover the period of leave of absence and/or
travel; or
d. One month or 30 calendar days or longer of continued absence after expiration of
an approved leave of absence; or
e. Non-submission of DTR for a period or one month or more.

V.

Leave of Absence Without Pay and Automatic Separation from the Service
1.

Leave of absence without pay not exceeding one year may be granted, in addition to the
vacation and sick leave earned, in accordance with Sec. 57 of the Revised Omnibus
Rules on Leave. Pursuant to the same Section of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave,
leave of absence without pay in excess of one month shall be supported with a COA
Central Office Clearance, in addition to the Regional Clearance, in case of those
assigned outside of the National Capital Region.

VI.

2.

If an official or employee who is on an approved leave of absence without pay fails to

report for work at the expiration of one year from the date of such leave, he shall be
considered automatically separated from the service, i.e., without the need of a prior
notice, pursuant to Sec. 62 of the Revised Omnibus Rules on Leave.

3.

Three months before the expiration of the approved one-year leave of absence with pay,
the Director, HRMO shall inform in writing the employee concerned about the
impending expiration of his leave and call his attention to the above-cited provision on
automatic separation. If the employee concerned fails to report for work at the
expiration of his one-year leave of absence without pay, the Director, HRMO shall
prepare a memorandum recommending to the COA Chairman the employees automatic
separation from the service. This formal letter, however, shall not be considered as a
prerequisite for the automatic separation in accordance with Sec. 62 of the Revised
Omnibus Rules on Leave.

Administrative Sanctions
1.

Based on the report of the Head of Office concerned on an employee who has committed
the offenses cited in Item IV.1 without valid justification, the Director, HRMO, shall
advise, within the month before the final preparation of the payroll, the Accounting
Office, PFMS, or the Regional Director, to effect the deletion of the name of the
employee concerned from the payroll, furnishing a copy to the employee concerned and
to the Head of the Office concerned.

2.

Non-compliance with the provisions under Items II, III.1 and IV hereof may be a
ground for the institution of administrative action against the official or employee
concerned pursuant to Section 67 of the Omnibus Rules on Leave (Rule XVI of the
Omnibus Rules Implementing Book V of EO 29).

VII. Repealing Clause

1.

Provisions of COA Memorandum No. 2009-019 dated May 14, 2009, COA
Memorandum No. 2002-046 dated August 13, 2002, and other previous COA issuances
that are inconsistent herewith are deemed amended or superseded.

ADM/HRMO
LMC/RSL/NBC/MQL

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