Subject: Request of Atty. Winston M.

Ginez,
Chairman, Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board
(LTFRB), East Avenue, Quezon City, for
authority
to write off unliquidated cash advances of
three former LTFRB employees, in the
total amount of P29,399.50

DECISION

FACTS OF THE CASE

Before this Commission is the request 1 of Atty. Winston M. Ginez, Chairman,

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), East Avenue, Quezon
City, for authority to write off unliquidated cash advances of three former LTFRB
employees, in the total amount of P29,399.50.

Records show that three former LTFRB employees have

unliquidated cash advances in the total amount of P29,399.50, which have remained
outstanding for nine to 18 years, to wit:

Accountable Officer Year Purpose Amount

Granted of Cash Advance
Atty. Lydio J. Cataluña 1998 Travel expense P10,019.50
Mr. Giomarti R. Gamayo 2005 Travel expense 13,243.00
Atty. Villamor Ventura S. Plan 2007 Travel expense 6,137.00
TOTAL P29,399.50

On April 16, 2015, Atty. Ginez filed the request for authority to write off the
foregoing cash advances alleging that all possible efforts were exerted to cause their
liquidation or settlement but to no avail. In support thereof, Atty. Ginez submitted the
following documents:

1. Letter dated August 16, 2004 2 to Atty. Cataluña reminding him to

liquidate his cash advance;
 2. Memorandum dated December 22, 2005 3 for Mr. Gamayo directing him
to liquidate his cash advances;

3. Memorandum dated September 6, 2006 4 for Mr. Gamayo informing him

of the suspension of his salary until his liquidation of the cash advances;
and

4. Individual demand letter dated January 11, 2012 to Atty. Plan, 5 Mr.
Gamayo, 6 and Atty. Cataluña 7 issued by the Audit Team Leader (ATL),
LTFRB.

In a Memorandum dated June 11, 2015, the ATL and the Supervising Auditor
(SA), LTFRB, recommended the grant of the request considering that diligent efforts
exerted by the management and the former ATL to cause the liquidation of
the cash advances through the issuance of demand letters proved futile, and considering
further that the whereabouts of the accountable officers are unknown and they are no
longer connected with the LTFRB. 8 However, the Director, Cluster 7, National
Government Sector, this Commission, in her Memorandum 9 dated August 25, 2015,
recommended the denial of this request.

ISSUE

The issue to be resolved is whether or not the request for authority to write off may
be given due course.

DISCUSSION

After a circumspect evaluation, this Commission rules in the affirmative.

The accounts have been dormant for nine to 18 years, hence, they may now be
written off from the books of accounts of the LTFRB in order to provide reliable and
fairly presented financial statements of the agency.

It must be emphasized, however, that write-off does not equate to a condonation or

release of a debt by the creditor. When write-off occurs, the legal relationship between
the creditor and debtor remains the same—the debtor continues to be liable to the creditor
for the full extent of the unpaid debt. 10
 Hence, the writing-off of the dormant accounts receivable shall not preclude the
agency from exerting diligent effort to effect collection of these accounts authorized to be
written off.

RULING

WHEREFORE , premises considered, the request of Atty. Winston M. Ginez,

Chairman, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), East
Avenue, Quezon City, for authority to write off unliquidated cash advances of three
former LTFRB employees, in the total amount of P29,399.50, is hereby GRANTED .

Accordingly, the corresponding journal entry voucher may now be prepared,

transferring the amount written off from the books of accounts to the registry of accounts
written off, with a copy thereof furnished the Auditor concerned for audit and record
purposes.