Thursday, April 19, 2007 Officers of CH coop face probe on loans
OFFICERS of the cooperative of some 1,500 Cebu City Hall officials and employees were ordered investigated by the City Council yesterday to answer allegations of funds misuse, impropriety, and abuse of authority.
Vice Mayor Michael Rama and the city councilors instructed the council committee on cooperatives to investigate the officers of the Bayanihan Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BMPC) and look into allegations raised against them by the members.
Rama authorized the committee to tap the City Government’s lawyers and the lawyer-members of the council for the investigation, which the council wants completed within one month.
City Accountant Edna Jaca, a BMPC member, alleged that aside from being granted excessive loan amounts of up to P350,000, some Bayanihan Credit Cooperative Inc. (BCCI) officers and personnel are also exempted from paying loan charges.
Majority of the members of the BMPC, which is under the BCCI, are City Government employees.
“There are various loans granted to BCCI officers and staff and the regular charges are waived, which should have been accrued to the cooperative.
Aside from its irregularity, this is a blatant abuse of position and authority,” Jaca said in a letter addressed to one of the BCCI Board of Directors.
Transparency
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera also criticized the cooperative officers’ lack of transparency, after hearing that they refused to show the members the financial statement and loan records.
“It is imperative that the City Government protects its employees. There are allegations of misuse of funds and that the board of directors holds their meetings abroad. Those at the top of the hierarchy are also said to be getting loans much bigger than their allowed loan amount. To clear the issue, I think it’s only proper for the board to present all their records,” Pesquera said.
Councilor Procopio Fernandez, chairman of the committee on cooperatives, said he has repeatedly called the cooperative officers and members to a meeting for a mediation, but the officers always find an excuse not to attend.
He assured the council that the investigation will be finished in one month.
“Right now I don’t wish for a mediation. I want an investigation done thoroughly by your committee so all the issues will be addressed... it does not look good if our own employees are the ones affected and if the problem is in our own house and we’re not able to do anything about it,” Rama told Fernandez during the session.
Rama also wants the council to be the one to deliberate on the committee’s findings and recommendations.
Pesquera told the council that an employee with a monthly salary of only P10,000 has been granted a loan amount of at least P300,000. The employee’s salary for the entire year will not be enough to pay off the loan, she said.
Cooperative members are normally allowed a loan amount of up to three months’ salary.
In a letter addressed to Jaca, BMPC Manager Danilo Ortiz said they cannot provide copies of schedules of loans and cash advances of officers and time deposits of investors.
“In this regard, we would like to inform you that these documents are very confidential and we could not give you these for security reasons,” Ortiz’s letter to Jaca read. The letter was dated Feb. 5, 2007. (LCR)
