THE Provincial Government’s equity and assets have been accumulating, so these have been increasing every year, according to Capitol’s finance officials.
“Ang bulk gyud sa pagsaka sa (The bulk of the increase to) P20 billion plus (asset) is the re-appraisal of the value of our landholdings, our real properties,” said Provincial Accountant Marieto Ypil.
The equity rises along with the value of properties and assets as well, said PB Member Peter John Calderon.
“Not one governor can claim credit for the increase in asset and equity,” said Vice Gov Agnes Magpale.
Ypil said re-appraisal of the value of Capitol properties through the years contributed to the increase of assets.
‘Not bankrupt’
Because asset minus liability equals equity, with liabilities remaining the same and assets increasing, the equity will definitely increase, said Calderon.
However, in a press statement, former governor and now Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said: “Crediting Magpale for the fantastic financial performance of the Province exposes either inexcusable ignorance or blatant dishonesty.”
Garcia, citing a report from another newspaper, said that as of March 31, 2013, the Province had P615.4-million gross income and total assets of P28 billion, while as of June 25, 2013, it had a total of P791.4 million cash in bank and a dollar account amounting to $517,728.36.
“These are attested facts by the provincial treasurer which, from the time we presented at the turnover ceremony up to now, have never been refuted by Davide himself,” she said.
In 2013, the Capitol was receiving P149.636 million a month as its share of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) from January to June, or a total of P897.814 million.
Cash flow problem
“Cash position lang naapiki ta (we had cash flow problems),” said Ypil, referring to the time when Garcia was suspended and Magpale assumed as acting governor.
Magpale, for her part, said she never declared the Capitol to be bankrupt.
“I was asking Roy (Salubre) are we bankrupt?” Magpale told reporters.
When Magpale assumed as acting governor on Dec. 19, 2012, Salubre, then provincial treasurer, in his cash report that day showed that there was P90.418 million in the general fund; P61.603 million in the education fund; and P285.429 million in the trust fund.
Total cash in bank as of Dec. 19, 2012 was P437.451 million plus $516,641 in the dollar account.
Of the P90.418 million in the general fund, only P65.6 million could be spent for Capitol operations. So they needed extra money to pay salaries of employees that month, Magpale said.
She said the Christmas bonus wasn’t released until January 2013.
For 2012, the yearend cash assistance to barangay tanods and barangay workers was not released until March 2013, said acting Provincial Treasurer Manny Guial.
What is striking in Salubre’s cash report, Guial said, was the absence of fund allocation for calamity.
From 2011 to 2012, no fund was allocated for calamity, which is supposed to be five percent of the annual budget.
Guial said that the Capitol needed P126 million for the calamity fund. Magpale told him to take P7.8 million from the monthly IRA for this purpose, starting in January 2013.
As of Nov. 17, 2015, the cash report showed that Capitol had P1.758 billion in the general fund, P186.829 in the special education fund and P384.513 million in the trust fund.