Wednesday, August 22, 2007 3 towns paid more for food, seminars, representation than COA rules allow
THE Commission on Audit (COA) found that the towns of Ronda, Borbon and Sta. Fe spent “extravagant” amounts on food, seminars and representation.
Government auditors found that in 2006, Ronda spent more than P600,000 for food served during meetings, group evaluation, cocktails and conferences, and that the expense “was found to be unnecessary.”
The auditors also observed that a total of P588,380 was paid to a caterer without an official receipt, and the only proof of payment were reimbursement receipts.
Supporting documents of most of the claims did not indicate the dates of the activities. Program of activities and reports or minutes of the meetings were also not attached.
COA recommends that the town use resources “efficiently and economically.”
Borbon, meanwhile, spent more than P375,000 for entertaining guests or conducting municipal activities.
The auditors commented that the persons who participated in the activities were barangay officials, who have actually claimed meal and transportation allowances from their barangays.
The town also spent for activities or meetings of private or religious groups, which are not considered public purposes.
COA also discovered that names of employees who were not part of the activities were included in the list “to fill the gap between the estimate and the actual number involved in the activity, or to justify the amount spent.”
The commission recommends stopping the practice, saying resources should be spent solely for the benefit of the municipality.
On the other hand, Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island spent more than P183,000 for representation, which is a violation of Section 343 of the Local Government Code.
The code states that no money shall be appropriated, used or paid “for entertainment or reception” beyond the limit of the representation allowances authorized by law.
The law also exempts from the prohibition the reception of visiting dignitaries of “foreign missions or when expressly authorized by the President in specific cases.”
It was learned that money were used to pay resorts where visitors who were “monitoring” were billeted. The guests were not identified.
Other expenses covered the rooms and meals for the visit of the governor and party and for athletic meets.
But Elizabeth Francia, the chief of staff of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, was surprised by the findings for Sta. Fe.
She said that when the governor visits the island, the Capitol pays for her accommodation.
COA recommends that Sta. Fe stop disbursing funds for entertaining guests.
Meanwhile, COA also found that the use of fuel in Sta. Fe was not supported by proper documents, “thereby casting doubts” on whether these were reasonable.
Sta. Fe spent more than P180,000 for fuel and gasoline that did not have proper documentary support.
The same observation went to Bantayan, which spent more than P1 million for fuel and gas that were not properly supported with documents. (MBG)
