PORAC -- Pampanga Councilors League president Mike Tapang said Monday that incumbent Mayor Condralito dela Cruz has a 98 percent chance of "meeting him head-on" for the top executive position, complete with his own line up as the latter said he continues to fail to respond to his call for full disclosure and transparency in the use of non-office budget allocation.
Tapang, in an exclusive interview with Sun.Star Pampanga, said that he may lead the team with former Mayor Roger Santos as his running mate.
He added that his council line up will include the majority of the current councilors of Porac.
"Time and again we have asked for transparency in the use of municipal funds particularly the mayor's non-office budget allocation," Tapang said, adding that the municipal government should keep true to its Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) awards on fiscal management and show where the calamity fund and financial assistance, among others, were used.
Tapang has been raising the calls for transparency since 2014. He then "challenged" Mayor Condralito Dela Cruz to implement a "full disclosure policy" concerning the municipal programs, projects and disbursement of public funds here lamenting on the lack of detailed reports and citations of violations from the Commission on Audit (COA).
He furthered that in 2014, the council only has a list of general titles of appropriations from the 2014 non-office budget under the executive department such as the 20 percent local development fund amounting to P33.2 million, donations and grants amounting to P13 million, calamity fund – P11.5 million, maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) – P10.9 million.
Also in 2014, Tapang pushed for the approval of a resolution calling the local chief executive to implement a full public disclosure policy concerning the municipal programs and projects and disbursement of public funds, in accordance with the existing national laws and local ordinances.
Vice-Mayor Dexter David defended Dela Cruz in 2014 stating that "As for the municipality's performance, the municipality under the leadership of Mayor Dela Cruz was awarded three times with the Seal of Good Housekeeping," David said. He said that the municipality was also awarded P1-million as Performance Challenge Fund in recognition of its exemplary performance in governance, transparency and accountability in 2011. David said that this was also true in 2011.
Yesterday, Tapang said that the Mayor Dela Cruz has yet to fully comply with his call for full transparency, adding that the Mayor's Office still practices general title of appropriations. He added that details are left unknown to most of the council. Presenting a set of possible choices in the 2016 polls, he said, would give residents of Porac a chance to chart how their local government would be run.
"We are not saying that we are the best choice but we can assure the people of Porac that we will not let their interest down," Tapang added.