THE City Government of Mabalacat, headed by its new mayor, Crisostomo Garbo, is aiming for another Seal of Good Local Governance award.
Together with his new set of officers: Rosan Paquia, City Administrator, Patrick Fiel Sacay, Executive Assistant, lawyer Aileen Rigor, CPA, City Accountant, lawyer Emmanuel Ignacio, City Legal Officer, Narce Paquia, City Budget Officer, Marlene Mendiola, City Treasurer and other officials, Mayor Garbo has prepared the requirements to qualify for the coveted award.
It is a concerted effort and everyone has a task to do and reflect the best practices in city governance and the evaluators from the Department of Interior and Local Government must find the compliance of the City Government as very satisfactory to merit the SGLG for the year.
On the plus side, Mayor Garbo and his team worked hard and at par with the exacting guidelines on good governance. Satisfactory public service is the benchmark of the Garbo administration.
On the near downside, a training service provider has an ax to grind against some executives of the city government.
In a letter to the Mayor dated August 10, 2018, copy furnished this writer Engr. Romeo Calara, president of Technopreneur Development Institute Inc., brought forth the matter of the firm's voucher which has remained unpaid since April 2017 yet due to the circuituous route it has undergone, tantamount to its non-payment.
Allegedly, the officials privy to the voucher have given Engr. Calara the gruelling runaround regarding its documentary requirements which Engr. Calara claims to have completely submitted and yet, for reasons known only to the officials, the almost tattered voucher's fate remains uncertain!
Engr. Calara narrates that TDII has incurred expenses to complete the training of selected individuals whose training was made possible by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) and by virtue of a MOA forged between the city government and TDII. An award to proceed to the training has been reportedly given TDII and a Bids and Awards Committee resolution made to substantiate the go signal to proceed with the training.
In my interview with the exasperated Engr. Calara, I learned that they (with the firm's staff) have suffered humiliation and as a result of the much delayed payment of the voucher, they were evicted from the building used as venue for the training and the electric supply was cut off. Worse, they are now facing suits for the non-payment on the building rentals and the electric bill. Kaawa awa naman. Would somebody care to help Engr. Calara and TDII, please?
He intimated to this writer that he is seeking intervention from someone in Malacanang to effect payment on the voucher. Abangan.