Parañaque blames former officials for deficit

MANILA, Philippines - The incumbent officials of the Parañaque City government have not incurred a cash deficit of P2.8 billion last year, as reported by the Commission on Audit (COA), officials said yesterday.

In a statement sent to The STAR yesterday, city treasurer Anthony Pulmano said the deficit was a result of the previous administration’s financial mismanagement and negligence.

He said the amount, mentioned by the Commission on Audit (COA) report, was just the tip of the iceberg after they found out in their own investigation that a P1-billion fund accumulated by the previous administration is missing.

“The COA report is a product of accumulated obligations of the past administration. The administration of Mayor Edwin Olivarez did not commit any fund mismanagement since he assumed office in 2013,” Pulmano stressed.

He said the uncollected tax that COA was referring to in its report was based on the estimated budget as against actual collection last year.

“These uncollected taxes of P756 million should have never been reported as uncollected because the city did not utilize fully the estimated budget and, in fact, it was able to (save) P800 million,” Pulmano also said.  

On the projected income from public auctions, Pulmano said they were not able to conduct a public auctions for several delinquent real properties, like the Uniwide Coastal Mall, because a regional trial court judge has issued an injunction against the city treasurer. The city government is supposed to collect about P450 million in taxes from the mall.

He also said the temporary borrowings amounting to P205 million was made by the previous administration, including the missing P1 billion. 

Pulmano said that when Olivarez assumed in 2013, they were surprised to find that “no actual money was in the bank to sustain (the city government’s) day to day operation.”

“It was more than worst (when compared to) the situation of Quezon City in 2001 where negative P10 million was reported. In Parañaque, it was negative P4 billion, where P2 billion  (is) from a loan with the Land Bank of the Philippines and the rest were contractual and statutory obligations,” he also said.

City administrator Fernando Soriano described the COA report as exaggerated and unfair, saying that “it seems that there is a concentrated effort to bring Olivarez down.”