CITING it as “red flags,” the incoming administration of Bacolod City Mayor-elect Alfredo "Albee" Benitez is now investigating over P1.5 billion worth of alleged questionable transactions made under the administration of outgoing Mayor Evelio Leonardia from 2017 to 2020.
Lawyer Lyzander Dilag, spokesperson of Benitez, in a press conference at the Negros Residences in Bacolod City yesterday, June 28, said that upon the asumption of office of the incoming mayor, he will issue an Executive Order (EO) creating a committee that will help ensure a clean and transparent government.
Dubbed "Truth Commission," the committee will also be tasked to adopt some of the best practices of local government units (LGUs), Dilag said.
He said the committee will also look into transactions entered into by the city government to ensure that only those that complied with applicable laws, rules and regulations will be honored by the incoming administration.
For his part, Benitez, in a statement, stressed that it is his duty as mayor to ensure that all taxes and revenues of the city are applied in accordance with the law and that all money and properties of the city are properly safeguard.
Benitez said the main purpose of the EO he will be issuing is to assure that "moving forward, my administration will not yield the same adverse findings as contained in the various Commission of Audit (COA) reports for the past several years."
With this, the incoming mayor will be tapping the services of experts with relevant experience in government procurement to aid the committee for an efficient and thorough review of the transactions of the city government.
Benitez said they will require a more detailed examination on cash grants and cash advances including the P130 million budget from 2017 to 2019 received by the government officials, employees and special disbursing officers.
Additional details of the P49 million budget received by various non-government organizations (NGOs) for the same period is also necessary, he said.
The P183 million allegedly received by the government officials and employees related to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020, and the P38 million intended for medical suppliers and personal protective equipment (PPEs) are also being questioned by the camp of Benitez.
Benitez claimed that instead of undergoing negotiated emergency procurement as prescribed by law, cash advances were disbursed by the city government purportedly for procurement of these supplies.
He also emphasized the need to examine the land facilities and sanitation services where records also showed that "public funds were released and paid to these contractors without required supporting documents for accomplishment, payments being submitted and establishing a reliable measure of accomplishment."
It included the P71 million budget for the landfill facility and P222 million for the environmental and sanitary services in 2018; the P164 million for the collection, hauling and disposal of garbage and P49 million for the construction of landfill's Cell No. 2 in 2019.
The incoming administration also questioned the construction in progress accounts with discrepancies including the P390 million discrepancy in 2017; P289 million in 2018 and P325 million in 2019.
Benitez said these discrepancies would lead even a person of common understating to infer that the so-called projects could possibly be non-existent or "ghost" infrastructure projects or those that could not be accepted by the city due to irregularities in the bidding process or quality of work performed.
"At the very least, these discrepancies reflect neglect and inefficiency in recording and monitoring the accomplishments or construction projects in the books of accounts of the city," he stressed.
Meanwhile, the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund worth P112 million in 2020 sourced from the City's Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund for the supposed purchase of equipment will also be looked into.
However, it appears that the equipment paid from the fund was not recorded as an asset in the city's book leading to a question whether this equipment actually exists, the incoming mayor said.
The incoming administration said they will also review the supplies inventory accounts as, for them, it appears that the practice in Bacolod City was to procure supplies and materials charged directly to the expense accounts, circumventing the proper procedure which is to record the purchases first in the inventory accounts.
The camp of Benitez also claimed that in 2019, about P28 million worth of supplies and materials were not properly recorded in the inventory accounts of the city.
Another is the emergency funds in 2019, wherein P5 million was charged against the quick response fund supposedly for the purchase of the larvicides/insecticides and dengue test kits to control the dengue epidemic, they said.
The incoming administration also questioned the 133 unimplemented projects in 2017; 141 projects in 2018; and 89 projects in 2019.
Benitez said the money from the Special Education Fund (SEF) and Gender Development Fund were likewise not utilized by the previous administration including the P44 million in 2018, P41 million in 2019, and P196 million in 2019.
He said the gross inefficiencies in recording and monitoring funds and projects in the General Services Office, City Accountant’s Office, and City Engineering Office appears prevalent for several years leading to substantial variances, P61 million variance in 2017 and P116 million variance in 2018.
He alleged that non-compliance with COA requirements was likewise noted.
The records are replete with instances where documents were belatedly submitted to the COA, effectively preventing the COA from the timey conducting an audit and evaluation of the procurement of contracts that the city spends money on, his camp added.
Moreover, during the transition period, Benitez's administration will take the opportunity to assess their starting point.
The findings of the committee to be created by the EO shall serve as their guide in moving forward, Benitez said, adding that this process is to ensure that we have a transparent, responsive and efficient government.
To achieve their goal of good governance, he said, it may be a necessary consequence to hold accountable those public officials who may have violated the laws.
"Also, the goal of this process is to serve as a warning to all those serving under my administration to strictly adhere to existing laws and proper procedure so as to avoid these grand malevolent schemes committed in the past," Benitez added.
Also present in the press conference were Marilou Reyes, former state auditor and the resource person of the "Truth Commission"; Atty. Karol Joseph Chiu, incoming secretary to the mayor; Atty. Pacifico Maghari, incoming city administrator; and Atty. Romeo Carlos Ting, Jr., incoming city legal officer.
Reyes said the source of the "facts" presented at the press conference is the annual audit report issued by the COA for the period covering 2017 to 2020.
She said these annual audit reports are now available to the public or can be found at the COA's website.
Reyes also said some of these findings might have already been addressed, but based on the action on prior years audit recommendations, there are still a lot of audit findings for the period of covered that have remained unimplemented and there are some partially implemented.
In addition, Maghari said the "Truth Commission" will be headed by the City Legal Office led by Ting with its two members which include the city administrator.
He said they will wait for the EO that will be issued by the incoming mayor on July 1, 2022.
Leonardia's camp has yet to comment on the matter.*