Ex-Binmaley mayor decries cash advance issue
BINMALEY—It’s a demolition job against me!
This was the reaction of former Mayor Simplicio Rosario to media reports linking him to a P6.2 million in cash advances supposedly obtained by present and former employees of the Binmaley municipal government that have remained unliquidated or unpaid.
Rosario did not deny the existence of the cash advances, but said the amount is overstated since some of these have already been settled by the concerned employees.
Incumbent Mayor Lorenzo Cerezo recently announced that the municipal government, following up on letters from the Commission on Audit, is tracking down the unsettled advances, which the mayor insinuated were used for unauthorized purposes by his predecessor’s administration.
Rosario clarified that the cash advances were spent for materials for different projects entrusted to municipal officials and employees, but were not liquidated on time.
Rosario added that the delay is nothing new, citing that the same procedure was practiced during the time of former Mayor Roland Domalanta whose administration obtained cash advances of some P5 million.
HARASSMENT
Rosario lamented the manner with which Cerezo campaigned to boost the town’s finances mainly at his expense. He said that employees who were known to be close to him were “harassed” to sign affidavits that point to him as the sole beneficiary of these cash advances.
He also questioned the list of names released by Cerezo, that did not include incumbent Councilor Jeffrey de los Angeles, reportedly a close ally of Cerezo, who has an unliquidated P586,000 cash advance obtained during the administration Domalanta.
De los Angeles, who also once served as a vice mayor, is is now being groomed to become the town’s new budget officer.
Another name not mentioned was Sheila Marie Sison, former school district supervisor of Binmaley, who was listed to have an outstanding cash advance of P118,700, that was allegedly obtained as the executive committee chairman of the recent Binmaley town fiesta.
Sison, who is now the assistant division superintendent of Pangasinan, sent a school principal to Manila recently to ask Rosario to sign her liquidation papers, but the ex-mayor turned down the request saying he no longer has authority to do so.
DIRTY POLITICS
The ex-mayor said Cerezo is simply playing “dirty politics” and trying to smear his name in view of his plan to stage a comeback as mayor of Binmaley in the 2013 election.
“Gusto nila kong bugbugin, sirain at kasuhan ako para hindi na ako makatakbo sa darating na halalan,” said Rosario.
He admitted that while he is already happy for what he had accomplished for Binmaley during his two terms as mayor and is presently content managing his business while serving as a consultant for Vice President Jejomar Binay, the smear campaign has firmed his resolve to run again in the next polls.
“We might as well do a MacArthur to save our people, to save the town of Binmaley,” he said, adding that he is waiting to to fire “a lot of ammunition against the present municipal administration.”
Rosario lost to Cerezo in the 2010 election by 666 votes.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
