No explanation for P598K discrepancy
LINGAYEN BAGOONG FESTIVAL
LINGAYEN—Expenses for last year’s joint celebration of this town’s fiesta and the Bagoong Festival reached P2,401,080, but available funds were only accounted at P1,821,793.50.
Where the supposed resulting overdraft of P598, 286.51 was sourced remains a mystery.
Municipal Accountant Nelson Gumapos, who was also one of the chairmen in the committee that handled the events, could not explain the deficit and appeared clueless as to how the shortfall could have possibly been covered.
Gumapos, who finally submitted a financial report to the Sangguniang Bayan during the board’s regular session on February 18 after two previous invitations, simply replied that he will try to find out where the funds came from.
The financial report enumerated that the event’s sources of funds were the net proceeds from raffle tickets, P403,693.50; box collections, P16,300; collections from souvenir programs’ advertisements, P292,800; cash donations, P33,000; Bagoong products exhibit booth, P76,000; and public affairs fund, P1,000,000.
BOOTH RENTAL?
Missing from the report is the supposed collection from the booth rental fees of the exhibitors of the trade fair.
Gumapos again appeared clueless about the matter, seemingly not knowing whether the exhibitors did actually pay or not.
“Itatanong ko po kung may binayaran sila (trade fair exhibitors),” he said.
Aside from Gumapos, two other chairmen of the events’ main committees — former councilor and now Municipal Civil Registrar Jojo Lopez and Human Resources Management Officer Raul Ungson — as well as Municipal Administrator Lydia Pioquinto have again been invited by the council in this week’s session.
BAGOONG FESTIVAL
Meanwhile, Councilor Judy Ann Vargas, author of the resolution designating bagoong (fish sauce) as Lingayen’s one town, one product (OTOP), said the P500,000 allocation for the Bagoong Festival as provided under the ordinance was also insufficient.
“Yon po ‘yong nagkulang sa sources of funds…lugi pa nga po kami,” said Vargas.
The town fiesta itself has no specific allocation in the municipal budget.
The three chairmen also stressed that the time for preparations for the said events was insufficient, which perhaps has resulted to the overdraft.
Meanwhile, Pioquinto, again, failed to attend the third-time inquiry on the matter due to migraine, according to Gumapos.
The town’s joint celebration started December 7, 2013 and lasted until January 15, 2014, with Mayor Josefina Castaneda as the executive chairman.–Johanne R. Macob
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