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Thursday, February 03, 2005
Tomas ‘trading’ P187T fees for P170M taxes
By Gingging A. Campaña
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Mayor Tomas Osmeña does not mind “setting a bad example in forgoing” the penalties of three accountable officials and some P187,000 that City Hall collector Rebecca Mahusay ran away with last year.
This, as long as he will be able to save “the welfare of the whole system at the City Treasury Office” by not suspending two liquidating officers and the cash receipts division assistant chief, over their failure to detect Mahusay’s cash shortage.
The mayor told a news conference yesterday that if the three officials, who play a vital role in the tax and fees collections, will be suspended, their absence will largely affect the whole system.
Osmeña said that although Mahusay ran away with almost P200,000, it’s nothing compared with the P170 million that the treasury office collected in just three days.
“Let’ just weigh things. Unya na lang ang P200,000. Anyway, there’s a lot of money coming in.
What was once a department that has a critical function is functioning much better now. Let’s just look ahead,” he told a news conference yesterday.
‘Realistic’
Whether his decision will create a negative impact on his management, the mayor said: “You’re right, it will leave a bad taste in their mouths, but in reality they have improved their performance in tax collection. If you take the management’s standpoint, and you match reality against theory, and the reality is good, you choose reality.”
“I might set a bad example but let’s be realistic. I’m here as the mayor and my job is to do what is best for the City. You might say I’m inconsistent, that I backed out,” Osmeña said.
Mahusay, who failed to surrender 98 official receipts and P187,707.95 in miscellaneous fees, remains in hiding since she went on leave last June.
She is facing administrative and criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
The mayor said he decided to call off his order to suspend for one month, without pay, liquidating officers Anya D. Chan and Norma Labra and cash receipts division assistant chief Joseph Reyes.
Chan, Labra and Reyes were earlier found guilty of simple negligence.
The mayor, however, gave them only a strong reprimand and stern warning, a penalty for those found violating office rules and regulations, after the three respondents sought his reconsideration.
Osmeña also said yesterday that he received a request from his consultant Juan Saul Montecillo to reduce the penalty, as the three have helped a lot to improve tax collections.
“I will not argue with them and I believe in their ability and I believe in their judgment that it’s not their fault,” he said.
(February 3, 2005 issue)
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