Monday, September 19, 2005
Illegal fees in 19 Cebu towns
By Jeanette P. Malinao
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
Nineteen of Cebu’s 47 towns illegally disbursed honoraria to members of their bids and awards committee (BAC) in 2004, the Commission on Audit (COA) reported.
Reports on the operation of the 19 municipalities revealed that the local governments violated a budget circular that sets guideline for the release of BAC honoraria.
Because of their violations, these towns are being asked to refund the entire amount they disbursed: San Fernando, Carcar, Tabogon, Borbon, Medellin, Daan-bantayan, Minglanilla, Naga, Dumanjug, San Francisco, Argao, Cordova, Consolacion, Alegria, Malabuyoc, Gina-tilan, Bogo, Compostela and Boljoon.
The amount varies among towns.
In an earlier interview with Sun.Star Cebu, Bogo Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III said the release of the honoraria was not meant to influence BAC members.
It was just that the guidelines were issued last year yet, he said.
The budget circular was issued on March 23, 2004.
Bogo will seek reconsideration from COA. But if it’s disapproved, Martinez said he will just ask the 13 BAC members, who received honoraria ranging from P1,000 to P4,484 a month, to refund the total of P277,299 they received from the town’s coffers.
In their reports for the 19 towns, auditors asked local officials to follow strictly the provisions of Budget Circular 2004-5.
The circular sets limits for fund sources of the BAC members’ honoraria.
These must only be the 50 percent of their collections from the sale of bid documents; fees from contracts/supplier registry; fees charged for copies of minutes of bid openings, BAC resolutions and other BAC documents; protest fees; liquidated damages and proceeds from bid/performance security forfeiture.
Also, the honoraria must not exceed 25 percent of the employee’s monthly salary.
However, the 19 towns either charged the honoraria to the general fund, or exceeded the limits.
In Ginatilan, for example, the municipality’s accounts showed that no income has been collected during the year which can be made available for the payment of BAC honoraria. Still, it released P45,390.
“The municipal accountant objected to the payment of the honoraria, but some members insisted on claiming the amount,” auditors said in the Ginatilan report.
Like Ginatilan, Malabu-yoc also did not have collections but paid P190,491 from “other maintenance and operating expenses.”
Auditors also chided San Francisco in Camotes Island for disbursing P106,052 for it, “despite knowledge of its irregularity.”
Members of San Fran-cisco’s BAC “deliberately” collected their honoraria, although the town did not collect sufficient funds.
“Appropriate sanctions must be filed against the officials and those who authorized the collection,” read the COA report.
Without basis
In Cordova, auditors said the town continued to grant the honorarium despite COA’s memo against it issued in October.
Only P11,090 was legally available for its release, but Cordova granted a total of P237,967, an amount COA found to have been given without legal basis.
Boljoon, on the other hand, was already advised against it through a COA audit observation memorandum in February 2004, but still granted the honorarium from irregular funding sources.
Local officials there said that it is “somehow remote” for a fifth class municipality like them to source properly the honoraria, because the projects there are small and usually done by administration.
Boljoon leaders reportedly said that they “are quite aware of the consequences of their actions.”
However, the Boljoon Municipal Council recently passed an ordinance so they can implement proper collection, from which they can legally source the honorarium.
Trust fund
Compostela, meanwhile, charged the P25,767 honorarium against a trust fund, and exceeded the ceiling of 50 percent of the year’s collections.
In Alegria, total collection from proper sources was only P600, so only P300 could have been available for the honoraria of all BAC members.
But COA found that Alegria released P185,000, or an “overpayment” of P184,700.
An overpayment was also ruled in Dumanjug, which paid PP174,929 although the available funds for the honorarium was only P2,400.
Consolacion paid P126,924 from its regular budget, a violation that Argao also incurred, at P343,514.
COA report for Naga, meanwhile, said the town has yet to comment on audit observation sent to them in February this year.
Like the other towns, Naga is also asked to refund the P265,792 because its release was “bereft of legal basis.” (JPM)
(September 19, 2005 issue)
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