THE Commission on Audit (COA) ordered all the barangay captains, barangay councilors, secretaries and treasurers in Cebu City to return more than P21.5 million in incentives they received from the City Government last year.
The disbursement, COA said, was irregular.
In the notice of disallowance addressed to Mayor Michael Rama dated Feb. 10 this year, Cebu City State Auditor IV and Audit Team Leader Cymbeline Celia Uy said the release of the cash incentive was disallowed because it was charged to the wrong account.
Based on the Local Government Code, Uy said, all honoraria, allowances and “such other emoluments” should be taken from the personal services item in the annual budget.
However, COA’s review of the P13.4-billion annual budget of the City in 2015 showed that the cash incentives were taken from the maintenance and other operating expenditures (MOOE) account, instead of personal services. (COA labels personnel expenses like salaries and incentives as “personal services.”)
Cebu City’s release of P21.51 million to the barangay officials “is therefore irregular and contrary to the above mentioned laws, rules and regulations, thus, disallowed in audit,” the notice reads.
The City gives P5,000 per month as a cash incentive to each of the 80 barangay captains; P3,000 per month each to the 560 councilors; P2,000 per month each to the barangay treasurers; and P2,000 per month to barangay secretaries.
How much?
For the entire year last year, each of the barangay captains received P45,000 from the City. That’s the net amount. A total of P27,000 each went to the barangay councilors and P18,000 to the secretaries and treasurers. These were the amounts after withholding taxes.
The cash incentives were granted pursuant to Executive Order 14-2, signed by Mayor Rama and City Administrator Lucelle Mercado.
The incentives were in recognition of the barangays’ role in helping the City implement several policies, such as compliance with the Solid Waste Management Act.
COA’s notice of disallowance was also sent to City Accountant Atty. Mark Salomon and City Budget Officer Marietta Gumia.
“We have the legal remedy to appeal within six months. We will just justify nganong sakto ang pag-charge (why it was correct to charge the incentives to the MOOE),” Salomon said.
Salomon explained that the ordinance for the P13.4-billion annual budget last year provided that the cash incentives were under the MOOE.
“They can’t indirectly attack the budget ordinance. We have to file a protest,” he added.
Explanation
Association of Barangay Councils chief and Tisa Barangay Captain Philip Zafra said yesterday he has not yet received a copy of the notice of disallowance.
He said he will reserve his comments on the matter until he receives a copy of the notice.
But Zafra said, though, that the granting of the cash incentives to the barangays has long been done by the City.
Aspas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman also has yet to get hold of the notice of disallowance. He believe the City can very well explain what happened.
Tejero Barangay Treasurer Evangeline Delgado, on the other hand, said they plan to submit an explanation to COA about the notice of disallowance.
“Ang comment namo ana uban sa mga konsehal ug sa among kapitan nga di na sala namo. Nanawat ra mi kay recipient man ni. Aside niana, naandan na man nga hatagan gyud mi. Ikapila na gud namo ni katuig. Ang problema lang ang proceso. Abi namo okay na ang process, so mao to nidawat lang mi (Our captain and council will explain that it was not our fault. We only received the incentives, which has been the practice for years. We thought the process was OK, so we received the incentives),” she said.
‘Pay it back’
If they are really obligated to refund the money, Delgado said they will just have to comply.
Acting Mayor Margarita Osmeña is asking all the barangay captains, barangay councilors, secretaries and treasurers to comply with the disallowance.
“Pay it back because you know, if they don’t, they cannot get any more cash incentives. When the revised 2016 annual budget will be finally approved, included there are their incentives. How they will be given that if they are not cleared?” she said.
Osmeña lamented the many disallowances the City gets from the state auditors.
She recalled that COA had also disallowed the P800-million financial assistance that the City released to the 80 barangays also last year.
“You see, all these things are happening. If things were just done properly, if we just followed all the procedures, we wouldn’t have come to this,” she added.