When a government official receiving RATA is designated to a higher position which also has RATA, can the official claim additional RATA?

Let’s clarify the subject matter. For instance, there are two government officials, say a Director and an Assistant Director, who are both receiving commutable Representation Allowance and Transportation Allowance (RATA). The Director traveled to attend an official business and designates (thru an Office Order) the Assistant Director to be the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) while he/she is out of the Office.

Question: Can the Assistant Director claim additional RATA for the time he/she was designated as OIC even if he/she is already receiving RATA for his current position?

Answer: Yes. The Assistant Director can actually claim additional RATA, provided that:

✅ The grant is indicated in the Office/Designation Order.

Based on the 2017 Omnibus Rules on Appointments (Revised 2018), designees cannot be granted the salaries of the positions they are being designated to. However, allowances that go with the performance of the functions such as RATA and Extraordinary and Miscellaneous Expenses may be granted as provided under the provisions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or appropriation ordinance of the respective local sanggunian; provided, the grant of the same is specifically stated in the designation order.

✅ He/she can only claim for the difference between the RATA of the Director and his/her RATA, pro-rated based on the number of actual work performance.

This is consistent with Item Nos. 9 and 10 of National Budget Circular (NBC) No. 548 and Local Budget Circular (LBC) No. 103, respectively, which both provide, to wit:

When an incumbent entitled to RATA in his/her position is subsequently designated as OIC of a higher position in concurrent capacity, he/she shall be entitled to the difference between the RATA of the two positions. When an incumbent is designated as OIC of a lower position in concurrent capacity, no additional RATA shall be provided.

Moreover, NBC 548 and LBC 103 require that the grant of RATA shall be based on actual work performance, as shown in the image below:

Thus, if the Assistant Director was designated as OIC-Director on a concurrent capacity for five (5) days during the month, then he/she can claim 25% of the difference between the RATA of the Director and his/her RATA.