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Friday, April 28, 2006
Bing dismisses Quiñones
By Roberto L. Bacasong
BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia ordered Wednesday the dismissal of City Accountant Pioquito Quiñones from government service for alleged gross neglect of duty.
Quiñones dismissal will result to the forfeiture of his benefits pursuant to Executive Order 292 and other pertinent Civil Service rules.
City Legal Officer Allan Zamora told the members of the City Hall Press Corps that the mayor filed the charges last March 9 after Quiñones failed to answer the mayor's memorandum issued last Oct. 14, 2005.
Zamora said his personnel served the order at Quiñones' house. However, he said, Quiñones did not accept the order and instead will be filing an appeal before the concerned agencies.
Zamora explained that despite many reminders, Quiñones failed to perform his duties as city accountant and failed to produce documents that were asked of him.
Sun.Star tried to reach Quiñones for reaction but failed.
Leonardia relieved Quiñones last year as City Accountant and appointed Eduardo Ravena as replacement.
In his Memorandum 176 issued Oct. 14, 2005, the mayor filed administrative charges against Quiñones for "absence without official leave" and "gross neglect of duty."
Still, Quiñones "failed and/or refused to file his answer."
The charges stemmed from the Commission on Audit (COA) report dated January 26, 2005 which stated that Quiñones failed to submit and continued to defy demands to submit reports required by the audit office in violation of Presidential Decree 1445, particularly Section 474 and 374 of the Republic Act No. 7160, or an act providing for a Local Government Code of 1991.
The audit commission said their audit for a month's transactions, especially with the General Fund, cannot be completed without the reports from Quiñones.
COA specifically stated that: "There are no journals to refer to; the vouchers alone are not sufficient to assure completeness of the transactions of the agency for the month; there were vouchers that were not submitted even though these were included in the transmittal letter;
The trial balances have no supporting schedules; there are no subsidiary ledgers to cross check the figures in the trial balances; the posting to the general ledger at the time of verification last September 2004 were up to March 2004 transactions only;
There were no general journals and bank reconciliation statements are not submitted on time."
COA also observed that the city accountant did not prepare a subsidiary ledger for Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable and did not maintain the required Registries of Appropriations for Capital Outlay, Personal Services, Maintenance and Operating Expenses and Financial Expenses.
"We need not emphasize the importance of these financial reports and its timely submission, particularly as a decision-making tool for the local chief executive and the City Council," the COA report read.
COA also said that as Quiñones failed to comply with verbal requests to submit the reports as required, they sent him letters and tracers "which he continued to defy."
Instead, COA said Quiñones mailed to them nine long brown envelopes with contents that did not faithfully comply with what was required by them.
COA also revealed that the practice has been going on since the time of the then (state audit) team leader Consejo Palermo.
In her 2003 Annual Audit Report, findings and observations numbers 5, 6, and 7 disclosed the same deficiencies.
"It was stated in one of her findings that the city accountant had been perennially late in the submission of the monthly trial balances. It was already Feb. 24, 2004 and the yearend Dec. 31, 2003 trial balances should have been submitted on the 14th day of February. However, as of her writing, her office was only given the October 2003 trial balances," the report also read.
The COA then recommended to the mayor to withhold the salary of Quiñones until he complies with the submission of the reports.
"In view of the findings and recommendations of the State Auditor, COA and the City Legal Officer, you (Quiñones) are relieved of your functions and transferred to the City Mayor's Office effective immediately," the Oct. 14 order read.
Leonardia then directed Quiñones to complete and submit financial reports required by the COA within one month.
However, nothing happened, prompting Leonardia to file the recommendation for dismissal last March 9.
Balo also said that since March 25, 2005, Quiñones has not reported to the City Mayor's Office and has filed a leave of absence equivalent to only one day.
(April 27, 2006 issue)
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