COA audits Kidapawan coffers

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines  – State auditors began yesterday an audit of Kidapawan City government funds after a senior disbursing officer went missing following the “collapse” of his P15-million money lending business.

Kidapawan City Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco said the police are searching for Darwin Loyola, who according to investigators, had abandoned his house.

“We are expecting the audit to be fully accomplished in the next two or three days,” Gantuangco said.

Auditors are looking into how Loyola handled the city government’s savings earmarked for the salaries of barangay peacekeeping action teams, special education teachers and employees hired on a job order basis.

Gantuangco said Loyola managed to withdraw an undetermined amount of money from the official depository bank of the Kidapawan City government before he went missing last week.     

Police and barangay officials found the vault, where city government funds were kept, empty when they opened it last Friday.

Gantuangco said Loyola’s business partners were worried if they could still recover their shares in the lending company.

He said the other incorporators in Loyola’s lending business told him there were recent problems in the release of money.

“I believe Loyola could no longer account the flow of cash and the capitalization of the other financiers of their lending business so he left the city,” Gantuangco said.