Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Tony to Faelnar: Where’s P15M?
REP. Antonio Cuenco wants Guadalupe Barangay Captain Eugenio Faelnar to account for P15 million in funds supposedly intended for seedlings distribution and goats dispersal that he said did not materialize.
Cuenco (Cebu City, south district) said he will ask the Department of Agriculture (DA) 7 to investigate and “cancel outright” the memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the barangay and have it return the amount.
He said it has been three years, yet Guadalupe failed to do its part by submitting a periodic accounting of the funds.
Faelnar could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But his son, Guadalupe Barangay Councilor Dino Faelnar, told Sun.Star Cebu in a telephone interview that the seedlings had long been distributed.
“It was coursed through the ABC (Association of Barangay Councils). The seedlings of the hybrid jackfruit have long been distributed. They should’ve grown into trees by now,” he said.
Dino admitted the goats have yet to be distributed because they made sure the process and the documents are all in order.
Construction of the goat house in Barangay Taptap, he said, also has to be finished, and they also did not rush the bidding process.
“Kanang sa kanding wala namo gidali-dali kay dili mi ganahan nga modiretso’g palit. Dili raba siya ang madiskuhedo, kami man,” he said.
Dino said Cuenco may have just forgotten that the barangay sent reports to his office, which he said he could understand because the congressman is rarely in his Cebu office, which incidentally is in Guadalupe.
“Naa gani’y mga saad niya nga wala nahimo kay dili na siya makit-an, dili na ma-contact sa telepono. Naa ta’y mga papers ana tanan,” he said.
Dino said that contrary to Cuenco’s claim, the seedling and goat project, channeled through the DA and implemented using Guadalupe as conduit barangay, was given to them early last year only.
Cuenco said he is not accusing Faelnar and the barangay of anything yet.
“I’m not saying nga gigamit sa lain, but I’m afraid (about) the delay in the accounting process ug tingali nawagtang ang funds. I’m not making any conclusions, which is why I’m asking the DA to make an investigation,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
“It’s been three years, the barangay captains have been waiting for that,” he added.
Cuenco said he was forced to have Guadalupe used as conduit for the project through a MOA with the DA because the special allocation release order for the project was not yet obligated that time. He was afraid the funds might revert back to the National Government’s general funds, Cuenco added.
“This is a serious matter that I asked the DA to cancel the MOA outright and have the barangay refund the money,” he said.
Faelnar, a close friend of Mayor Tomas Osmeña with whom Cuenco had a falling-out, earlier told Sun.Star Cebu that the congressman has not given any project to the south district.
Cuenco has denied the allegation, saying he has refrained from associating with Faelnar, which explains why the ABC president did not know about any of his endeavors in the south district. (RHM)
