Taguig mayor denies councilors' 'squid tactics' claim

MANILA, Philippines - Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano on Thursday denied an allegation that she is deliberately depriving some members of the Taguig City Council of their funds for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) for their being her political opponents.

In a statement, Cayetano said her political foes is accusing her of engaging in squid tactics in an effort to deflect public attention from mounting evidence indicating their links to organized crime and illegal drugs syndicates.

At the same time, Atty. Darwin Icay, Nationalista Party-Taguig spokesperson, dismissed as baseless and diversionary the allegations made by some members of the Taguig City Council that they were deprived of operating funds just because they belong to the other side of the political fence.

“Their efforts are pure political smearing. They are desperate because Mayor Lani and her team lead in all surveys by a mile, while they are weighed down by all sorts of issues including the recent arrest of their relatives, Joanna Tinga and Henry Tinga, both prominent members of the Tinga Drug Syndicate,” Icay said.

Icay said the recent spate of attacks against Cayetano is nothing more than an effort to misdirect and mislead the public from her administration’s accomplishments, notably in the area of peace and order.

“Mayor Lani’s hard stance against illegal drugs in the city seems to have provoked an offensive from those who have links with notorious drug syndicates. But she will not stand down on her administration’s all-out war against drugs in Taguig City,” Icay said.

On Monday, eight suspected members of the Tinga drug syndicate were arrested during a police raid inside a three-story apartment complex in Barangay Sta. Ana in Taguig City.

Meanwhile, Taguig City Treasurer and Legal Officer Mar Miranda denied the allegations made by the Vice Mayor’s Office and some councilors that they were deprived of funds for their MOOE for the year 2013.

Miranda explained that MOOE of the city government has been centralized to key departments not for political reasons but merely to conduct a “thorough house cleaning” and rationalizing expenses of the different departments and facilitate approval of releases and monitoring.

Among these key departments are: Personnel Office, City Engineer’s Office, Office of Social Welfare and Development, and General Services Office.

“This move was done to address the unbridled and wanton spending of the past administration,” Miranda said.

The centralization of MOOE budget, he said, has resulted in the generation of greater savings for the city government and “the observance of prudence in the use of public funds for truly public undertakings.”

The centralization effort, he added, was even approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod itself when it passed the budget.

“Besides, the city’s MOOE are liquidated not through mere certification but through standard auditing and accounting procedures,” Miranda said.