STATE auditors have flagged the P1.296 million trip of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to Vladivostok, Russia in September 2023, questioning the roles of some officials who joined him in the travel.
The public funds covered the airfare and daily subsistence allowance of the delegates.
Rama, now preventively suspended for six months since May this year, attended the 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok on Sept. 9-18, 2023.
He was with City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, City Administrator Collin Rosell (who is also preventively suspended along with Rama), then-Budget Officer Jerone Castillo, South Road Properties Administrator Roberto Vasquez, and Protocol Officer Cinbeth Orellano.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has asked Rosell, Castillo, Vasquez and Orellano to submit an explanation, outlining their specific tasks performed or accomplished during their travel and how their roles improved Cebu City.
COA, in its audit report, said bringing several officials to Vladivostok trip was inconsistent with Section 9 of Executive Order 77, which former President Rodrigo Duterte issued.
Section 9 states that for trips involving delegations, the authorized approving authority (Department of the Interior and Local Government) shall ensure that the number of participants is kept to the barest minimum, and the role of each member in the delegation is specified and justified in the travel application proposal.
According to COA, thriftiness must always be observed as foreign trips are expensive.
Clear tasks
Aside from Rama, state auditors said only Pesquera had clear responsibilities as she was tasked to present Cebu City’s tourism projects in one of the forum’s sessions called, “Cebu in Focus.”
Pesquera was also one of the panelists, together with Rama, in a session Russia-Philippines Business Dialogue.
“With these, the role or responsibilities of Councilor Pesquera as a member of the Cebu City Government delegation to the 8th EEF were clear and related to her work in her official station,” COA said in its 2023 audit report.
The COA reported that the Cebu City Government’s letter request to DILG for travel authorization was incomplete. The letter only listed the delegates with their respective positions and offices. However, it failed to specify or justify their roles and the purposes to be accomplished during the official trip, which is required elements according to the applicable regulations.
The state auditors also noticed that the narrative report or participation report prepared by Orellano lacked specific details. It failed to mention any activities or functions performed by the other delegates throughout the nine-day EEF. SunStar Cebu attempted to contact three of the six officials, Rama, Rosell and Castillo, for their comments. However, as of this writing, calls and text messages to these officials have not been answered. / JJL