THE Guico provincial administration has unabashedly established an unprecedented ‘incentive program’ for its officials, from members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to department heads, in return for their productive work and loyalty – to travel overseas for 7-10 days for free (from airfare to hotel accommodations, plus shopping allowance.)

Such an incentive program for the province’s hard working top officials can, indeed, be the most effective motivational measure to improve production and quality of their wok. Except for one issue: What’s the source for the funding for such a luxurious group incentive?

So far, the Guico administration has not creditably explained how the arrangements for the past two overseas group travels. In fact, the provincial government has conveniently used “invitations” from associations of Pangasinenses in USA on two occasions as main reason for board members’ pleasure travel.

Never mind that the incentive program allows the officials’ spouses to avail of the same privilege. Perhaps most of the board members would not be allowed by their spouses to travel overseas without them, in which case, the incentive for them would be worthless.

The board members cited reasons for their gullible constituents, including benchmarking of good practices of US towns and cities, talks with prospective investors. They know they lied. So who cares?

The Ombudsman, the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Budget and Management should care.

Look at the pattern. The “official” junkets were arranged within months after contracts for the construction of the Pangasinan Link Expressway, then the construction of the Reflecting Pool and Interactive Fountain project, were signed.

Then, the budgets for the pleasure travel could not have been sourced from annual budgets, neither have the officials admitted to using their private funds for “official” activities.

So adding the two facts, it can only mean a series of graft and corruption in the provincial government have been going on under the very noses of Pangasinenses.

Given the pattern, should Pangasinenses then expect more “official” travels once the contracts for the Provincial Government Center and the Redevelopment of the Provincial Capitol Complex are “bidded” out? But if the Pangasinan-USA associations finally cease to be used as cover-up for graft practices in the provincial government, that will surely pose a serious dilemma -– how to implement the well-funded incentive program.

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