Wednesday, August 29, 2007
PB approves P100M additional CICC fund
THE Cebu Provincial Board yesterday passed a supplemental budget amounting to P318.16 million, including the P100 million for the construction of the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
The bulk of the budget will be used for the 10 percent mandatory salary adjustments to employees and the collective negotiation agreement bonuses of the employees, as Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia announced during the founding anniversary of the Province last Aug. 6.
Inmates’ bonus
PB Member Wenceslao Gakit, head of the committee on budget, also revealed that the appropriation covers the P1.5 million budget for the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center who are given bonuses of P1,000 each for making Cebu popular with their “Thriller” dance that made its way to the Internet.
Also included in the budget are the allocation for the representation and travel allowances of officials and department heads, the budget for the operation of district hospitals and the South Bus Terminal.
The appropriation ordinance was passed without any questions during the PB’s out-of-town session in Carcar City yesterday.
PB Member Victor Maambong, vice chairman of the budget committee, said the easy passage of the budget could be attributed to the recent Commission on Audit findings that the CICC construction did not violate any procurement procedure.
Meanwhile, businessman Crisologo Saavedra asked the anti-graft office to subpoena all Capitol records pertaining to the CICC to establish what he described as the project proponent’s “willful and intentional” splitting of the construction contract, to avoid public bidding and get away with violating procurement rules.
In a two-page urgent motion before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas, the businessman yesterday reiterated the allegation that Capitol officials, led by the governor, “connived” with the contractor and other suppliers.
He lamented that P59,611,997.92 in government money has already been disbursed.
Overlooked
In an interview, he said the splitting was overlooked by the COA when it inspected the project’s books even though it was very obvious in the records.
He found the alleged oversight “surprising” because no less than COA Regional Legal Officer Roy Ursal even warned against the splitting during the CICC’s construction.
In his motion, he reiterated his earlier observation that the building of the super structure was treated as three separate projects instead of one.
Associate Graft Investigator Rod Blazo, in an interview, confirmed that the fact-finding team received Saavedra’s urgent motion.
He also said the team has been apprised of the result of COA’s audit on the CICC, but did not comment on whether it will
have an impact on the investigation.
At the PB session, Maambong said, “We are all mindful of the findings of the COA. If the COA report was nebulous, bordering on something that we should be afraid of, maybe we could have not passed the budget this afternoon.”
When asked about the P100-million additional budget for CICC, Governor Garcia did not give specifics but assured the money will not be wasted.
“Rest assured, unsa man ni nga mga (whatever these) expenses will still undergo strict COA scrutiny, the most competent government agency to see to it that these funds will not be wasted nor will they go to anybody’s pocket,” Garcia said.
With the COA finding, Maambong’s message to Saavedra is, “Grow hair.”
But Saavedra said Capitol officials should not celebrate as their celebration might be short-lived.
He also pointed out that he filed his complaints with the ombudsman and not with COA, so Capitol has no reason to celebrate because the ombudsman will not be minding the COA observations.
“COA is just a paper tiger. Nobody was jailed because of COA,” he added.
As to Maambong’s message that he should grow hair, Saavadra said, “It’s alright that I don’t have hair as long as I also do not have horns. Suya lang siya kay wa man siyay bald-headed creature according to the governor (He’s just jealous).” (MBG/KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 29, 2007 issue)
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