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Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Dads to decide on fate of 'negligent' barangay chief
By Rimaliza Opiña
AFTER finding Middle Quirino Hill barangay chairman Ignacio Gallente accountable for the illegal expenditure of P500,000 government funds, the special division of the Baguio City Council on barangay administrative cases suggested that the body would decide on appropriate punishment for the offense.
Councilor Edilberto Tenefrancia heads the division assigned to act on the administrative case filed by the Commission on Audit (COA)-Cordilleras for Gallente's act of signing of barangay checks without verifying the requisite documents to prove the validity of the withdrawals before signing.
This resulted to the encashment of P544,801.41 by their barangay treasurer. COA pointed out "there was no showing that the withdrawal redounded to the benefit of the barangay."
The COA added that because of Gallente's laxity in signing the checks, several checks forwarded to him for signature were forged through the alteration of the true amount to be withdrawn.
Stressing that his signature is crucial to the commission of the withdrawals, the COA said prudence dictates Gallente should have required and reviewed supporting documents first before authorizing anyone to withdraw barangay funds.
"The fact that several checks with considerable amounts and without any supporting document to serve as basis for him to assess the legality of the checks were signed by the Punong Barangay indicates his repeated failure to be prudent, diligent and vigilant in the performance of his duties," the COA said in its complaint.
"Due diligence on the performance of his functions would also prompt the barangay head to at least update himself on the status of the barangay funds and see to it that appointed officials are doing their functions in accordance with law," the COA added.
Gallente denied any knowledge of the illegal withdrawals. He said he and the barangay councilmen trusted their treasurer and that he had no time to go over voluminous documents.
He said that upon learning the incident, the barangay council convened and passed a resolution dismissing their treasurer.
Finding merit on the complaint, the committee also composed of Councilors Elmer Datuin and Antonio Tabora Jr., suggested that the Council would convene in an executive session and decide what penalty to impose on Gallente.
The committee pointed out that while the implementing rules and regulations of the Local Government Code provide censure or removal from office depending on the gravity of the offense, this, accordingly, is debatable.
Removal from the office has to be done with the discretion of the court, which, the Council, as a legislative body, could not impose, while censure is too light a penalty for the offense, they said.
(July 13, 2005 issue)
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