Cebu City execs cleared of fund raps

CEBU CITY — The Office of the Ombudsman has cleared Mayor Alvin Garcia, Vice Mayor Renato Osmeña and members of the city council of allegations of having improperly used funds from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) in 1997.

The charges stemmed from a criminal case filed by the Commission on Audit which alleged that the city government violated Pagcor-imposed guidelines when it used P487,950 in Pagcor funds for the salaries of students who did summer jobs.

City officials charged expenses for the Special Program for Employment of Students in the summer of 1996 to Pagcor funds.

COA said Pagcor guidelines prohibit the use of donated funds to pay for the salaries and wages of city personnel.

The Civil Service Commission, however, said the students were not covered by appointments and thus, could not be considered city employees.

The hiring of students, the CSC said, may be considered contractual or as a job order where no employer-employee relationship exists.

"Although the funds the students received donned the semblance of being salaries/wages having been paid as consideration for services rendered, the expenditure should not be highlighted on this count but rather from the perspective that the subject funds were used to finance a social project," the Ombudsman said. — Freeman News Service