Acting guv asks BLGF to replace provincial treasurer, check cash balance

ACTING Gov. Agnes Magpale yesterday requested the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) 7 to replace Cebu Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre.

Saying she has lost trust in Salubre, Magpale proposed that assistant provincial treasurer Emmanuel Guial replace Salubre and be appointed officer-in-charge of the Provincial Accounting Office as well.

The acting governor reportedly also ordered a stop to the deployment of 24 outsourced personnel but decided to extend the contract of some casual and outsourced employees.

Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, third district), brother of suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, said Magpale is violating the Local Government Code by terminating or extending the employment contracts of Capitol employees.

Section 46 of the Local Government Code states that the vice governor takes over all the functions of the suspended governor, “except the power to appoint, suspend or dismiss employees, which can only be exercised if the period of temporary incapacity exceeds 30 working days.”

‘Usurpation’

“She may face criminal and administrative action for usurpation,” said Pablo John.

Magpale became acting governor on Dec. 19, the day Governor Garcia’s six-month suspension order was served by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

In her letter to BLGF 7 Director Carmelene Tugas, Magpale cited three factors against Salubre: one, he was one of the accused in the graft case related to the purchase of the Balili property, which is pending in the Sandiganbayan; two, he facilitated the release of the P27.5 million for the development of the same property; and lastly, that he may be receiving instructions from Governor Garcia.

BLGF Manila Executive Director Salvador del Castillo and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima are furnished copies of the letter.

Magpale also asked the BLGF to conduct a cash examination of the provincial treasury to determine the Provincial Government’s real financial condition and Salubre’s accountability.

Salubre said in an ABS-CBN TV Patrol report that he will abide by the decision of the BLGF.

General fund

Magpale said Salubre’s report on the cash balance of the Capitol was “not accurate.”

She said Salubre reported that the balance of P90 million in the general fund is already net of the P51 million used to pay the bonuses of Capitol employees. But this, she added, turned out to be not true.

She said she met Capitol finance officials yesterday to prioritize payables as the Capitol cannot afford to pay all items at one time with the current cash on hand.

Meanwhile, Provincial Board (PB) Member Miguel Antonio Magpale, the acting governor’s son, revealed that his mother called for a meeting with 37 employees of Sugbo TV and Sugbo News.

Miguel Antonio said the meeting was meant to inform the Capitol personnel that the acting governor will extend the employment of casual employees to one month or up to Jan. 31 and for outsourced employees to two months or until Feb. 28. (Related story, A1)

He said the acting governor also wants to find out how the budget of more than P1 million a month for Sugbo TV and Sugbo News was spent.

“We owe an explanation to the people on how the money was spent and what is the impact of this investment. We are trying to find out whether these expenses have been beneficial to the Cebuano taxpayers,” said Miguel Antonio.

Assessment

Miguel Antonio denied that the closure of the Capitol’s television channel and newsletter was done martial law style.

“It was part of the overall assessment of the situation of its operational expenses after bills and notices from the different suppliers, contractors and institutions demanding payments were served,” he said.

In a related development, Cesar de Guzman of the LBP-BSPI Joint Venture Corp., which has an outsourcing contract with the Province, said he received a verbal order from Magpale and PB Member Peter Calderon to end the deployment of 24 personnel.

Of the 24, four are reportedly assigned to the One Cebu Secretariat, two are with airsoft group of Garcia’s son, four with Anti-Illegal Fishing Task Force, six with the Barangays Affairs and eight with the Monitoring Group.

Pablo John accused Magpale of intimidating Capitol officials with sanctions, suspensions and termination to get them to cooperate.