Soc: Talisay did not misuse calamity fund

CEBU, Philippines - Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez yesterday denied reports that his government misused P6 million of the city’s calamity funds last year.

“We deny that with the records supporting or vouching our reasons because there are records regarding the amount spent for the riprapping project in consonance with the calamity preparedness fund,” Fernandez said in an interview with the media at his office yesterday.

Fernandez was referring to the report published in a local daily (not The FREEMAN) alleging that the city’s P6 million calamity fund was illegally appropriated.

The report however quoted auditors from the Commission on Audit.

But Fernandez said everything was already explained in an exit conference with these auditors, and that their records were already reconciled.

The mayor said state auditors who had inspected the slope development project in the Lagtang Public Market last year might have assumed that funding for the project was lump summed with the parking area’s.

At that time the construction of both projects were almost done on the same period, as it was around that time when the city was about to open the market for public use.

“Misleading ang report, nasumpay siguro ang calamity fund and lot improvement. Mao nang advise sa COA, dili isumpay kay basin ma-construed that they were taken from the same source, which is not true. But we told the exit auditors,” he said.

He explained that while the slope development project was charged to 5 percent of the city’s pre-calamity fund, the parking area was from its 20 percent Development Fund. This was vouched by budget officer Edgardo Mabunay who said there are documents to prove such, and that from their exit conference with state auditors last year, they had made clarifications with it too.

Mabunay said COA has yet to release its final audit report, which he believes had rectified this error.

Fernandez explained that as per Republic Act 10121 or the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010” they can use 70 percent of their total calamity fund for disaster preparedness like riprapping of riverbanks to protect both humans and property from future destruction.

This law has also placed a “boundary” constraining every local government from using up the amount from non-disaster related expenses.

For this year, the city has about P22 million calamity fund.

“It did not happen because Talisay City is fully aware that there is such fund classification, the actual and the calamity preparedness,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mabunay also denied that job order workers are getting a share of the city’s calamity fund.

He said that while it is true, these workers are working under the Talisay Rescue Emergency Assistance Team (TREAT), the city’s rescue group during emergencies and calamities.

He said there are 20 of them, and that it is not true that the city is disbursing millions for their salaries.

According to COA’s report on the city’s financial operations last year the city misused about P6.3 million from its calamity fund for its job order workers and the improvement of a parking lot in the “New Tabunok Public Market,” all “charged against the 5 percent reserved for calamity fund.

Mabunay said COA’s “final comment” on this, which will be on its final audit report, will explain it all.

But as of yesterday, he said they had not yet received a copy of it. (FREEMAN)