Capitol salaries may be delayed

CEBU, Philippines - Salaries of Capitol employees for January 15 may not be given on time if the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of the Province of Cebu will be delayed.

Acting Governor Agnes Magpale said Capitol is cash-strapped and its operations are now dependent on the IRA, which is P133 million per month.

Magpale said she does not know when the IRA will arrive but she is hoping that it would not be delayed because it is normally deferred for a few days every January.

“Wala na talagang cash. We are now IRA dependent,” Magpale said.

Magpale said that P45M of the IRA will be for the salaries and wages of the more than 1,000 employees of the Capitol.

There are also another 730 outsourced employees working for the Province including those under Perfect Clean General Services, which provides medical, paramedical and other services to the Capitol.

Magpale said that she recently signed the payment for Perfect Clean General Services worth P5.9M.

She explained that she prioritized this payment as she cannot afford to jeopardize the health and medical services provided by Perfect Clean.

But Magpale said there are still assets, properties and other sources of income for the Province but other payments would need to be on staggered basis.

The lack of funds is also the reason Magpale wants Lilo-an Mayor Duke Frasco to approach her if he needs financial assistance for the town’s Rosquillos Festival, which will be joining the Sinulog next week.

 â€œI just want to show Mayor Duke Frasco the finances of the government. Talagang dependent sa IRA,” she said,

Frasco, son-in-law of suspended Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, earlier lamented why they have to ask for financial assistance when in fact, it should be one of their benefits being the grand winner in last year’s Pasigarbo sa Sugbo.

Magpale said if Frasco and Garcia do not believe that the Province has no more funds, she will again present Assistant Treasurer Manuel Guial to prove this.

Another payable that Capitol needs to settle is the satellite services for Sugbo TV, which has been temporarily shutdown.

She said that the Province has only paid three months and still owes nine months to the satellite company, which charges $14,000 a month for its services.

For her part, Garcia said the IRA can very well cover the salaries of the employees.

 â€œKung IRA lang ato hisgutan, kaya na pero just to dramatize the case na bankrupt na ta, ang sweldo nasad sa empleyado mao iyang gi-hold,”  Garcia said.

Garcia earlier questioned the basis of Magpale’s claim that the province is already in a deficit status on its funds.

She has also challenged Magpale to a debate, for them to discuss the alleged insufficient funds of the province.

“Again, I am challenging her, mag-one-on-one mi. Para matudloan pa nako siya how to run a province,” Garcia said.

Meanwhile, Magpale said that Garcia is free to dance during the Sinulog celebration as long as she will not do it as the governor and representative of the province.

“If ako lang ang concerned, she can gracefully dance her way out but that’s for me lang. There are other determining factors,” Magpale said. — /MBG (FREEMAN)