Officials yesterday mulled either mellowed-down activities or outright cancellation of the Sinulog next year if the Commission on Audit (COA) will not reconsider its new guideline that bars City Hall from giving financial assistance to the Sinulog Foundation Inc.
“Mellowed down activities na lang siguro, like we used to have nightly activities at Fuente Osmeña, canceled na lang,” Sinulog Foundation executive director Ricky Ballesteros said.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, meanwhile, talked about scrapping next year’s activities altogether.
“It looks like we’re going to cancel the Sinulog if COA will not allow it (exemption). The Sinulog cannot proceed with the assistance from the city,” he told a press conference yesterday.
But Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who is the overall chairman of the foundation, refused to even think of the possibility of scrapping the Sinulog grand parade noting that it is already synonymous with Cebu City.
Rama said he already spoke with COA officials in Manila, and he claimed that they already understood the predicament of the foundation and the other non-government organizations (NGOs) receiving funding from City Hall.
He is optimistic COA will reconsider.
COA Circular 2007-0001 prohibits any local government unit from giving aid to any NGO whose incorporator, director, organizer or officer is related to any local official involved in the approval or release of government funds.
The memorandum was issued last October and also affects the Cebu Investment Promotion Center, Cebu City Task Force on Street Children, Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association and the Cebu City Dancesport Team.
Some city officials are either officers of these groups or are related to their officers.
Option
The mayor said that as a government official, he has to follow the rules so that if COA will not grant the request to exempt the foundation, he will be constrained to cancel the Sinulog.
The City gives P8 million annually to the foundation to cover the Sinulog grand parade prizes, including those for special awards.
The other option, the mayor said, is for Rama to resign as overall chairman of the foundation, although he said this will only worsen the situation.
“I will let the vice mayor handle that issue. That is why my problem this year is COA. What we think is perfectly reasonable is not to them,” Osmeña said.
Transparency
Rama said he understands the mayor’s sentiment, noting that he is just exasperated by the situation.
The Sinulog Foundation, the vice mayor said, does not even have unliquidated financial assistance from the city, which requires that previous donations be fully accounted for first before another could be extended.
He also argued that having a government official in an NGO, contrary to the premise of the memorandum, actually encourages transparency.
“What better way to have the people’s money safeguarded if not to have a government official in the organization?” Rama said.
He believed that what prompted COA to issue the memorandum was the case of a government official who had public funds for an NGO deposited under his name, his
personal account, “which is malicious and anomalous.”
Ballesteros wrote a letter to the COA asking for an exemption, saying the foundation has made a tremendous contribution to the Cebu economy through the Sinulog.
The foundation, he added, also has a track record, unlike fly-by-night organizations that the COA targeted with its memorandum.
Mellowed-down
Still, the foundation could stage a “mellowed down” celebration if the City Government’s hand is tied by the memorandum.
He said that instead of holding nightly activities, for example, they will just cancel them and have prospective sponsors take care of the grand parade instead.
They can even do away with the fireworks if finances will not allow it.
Ballesteros, though, said sponsorships are not reliable and there are times when only a few people and entities are willing to help.
The foundation needs at least P20 million for the celebration. (RHM)
