Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Officials’ honoraria exceed DBM rates
By Aledel G. Cuizon
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
The honoraria received by some Mandaue City officials have indeed exceeded the rates set by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Records obtained from the Commission on Audit (COA) showed that the honorarium received by the chairman of the City’s bids and awards committee (BAC) reached almost P30,000 in about five months.
The BAC chairman is supposed to get only P3,000 for every “procurement project.”
City Administrator Serafin Blanco yesterday said the honorarium rates were based on the new Government Procurement Act.
Blanco said that as a “test case,” the BAC used the rates specified in Republic Act 9184, pending an opinion from the DBM.
When COA issued an audit observation memorandum regarding the committee members’ excessive honoraria, the City had yet to receive a response from the DBM, Blanco said.
In its latest audit report, COA said the City failed to follow the DBM rules in the granting of honoraria for BAC members.
As of the latest computation, state auditors found that members of the City’s BAC, secretariat and the technical working group (TWG) received honoraria amounting to some P421,522, an incorrect amount.
Section 15 of RA 9184 states that members of the BAC may be granted honoraria not exceeding 25 percent of their respective monthly salaries.
The same section is quoted in DBM’s Budget Circular 2004-5, which sets the guidelines on the “grant of honoraria to government personnel involved in government procurement.”
The guidelines stated that the BAC chairman should get P3,000 per procurement project.
BAC members are entitled to get P2,500 and the chairman and members of the technical working group, P2,000.
Mandaue City’s BAC is headed by Blanco as chairman and City Attorney Erwin Heyrosa as vice chairman.
Its members include City Engineer Ceferino Englis, General Services Officer Rene Tariman, Asset Management Officer Antonino Tumongha and Resource Generation Officer Lamberto Marababol.
COA gathered that in about five months alone, or from March 15 to July 27, 2004, Blanco received P28,151. Blanco received the same amount, from Aug. 3 to Dec. 6, 2004.
Heyrosa received P5,205 from March 15 to July 27, 2004 and P26,028 from Aug. 3 to Dec. 6, 2004.
Englis was paid P31,073 from March 15 to July 27, 2004 and P24,859 from Aug. 3 to Dec. 6, 2004.
Tariman, Tumongha and Marababol received P24,665; P32,647 and P33,463 respectively, for each of the two pay periods.
In its annual audit report, COA also noted that the honoraria for BAC members were charged against the City’s account for different committees and consultancy services, instead of the funding sources stated in Budget Circular 2004-05.
State auditors said the honoraria for BAC members, including the chairperson, reached 25 percent of the officials’ monthly basic salaries.
(July 27, 2005 issue)
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