Tighten your belts, Belen tells workers
TILL DECEMBER 2013
DAGUPAN City is not only broke, it is also neck-deep in debts.
A disconnection notice for unpaid electric bills for public schools from February to May worth close to P1 million was recently sent by the Dagupan Electric Corporation (Decorp) to city hall on June 3, the opening day of the new school year.
The notice signed by Dominador Liwag Jr., Decorp retail service manager, gave the city seven days from June 4 to pay the electric bills, otherwise the service will be disconnected.
This due amount, which should have been covered by the Special Education Fund (SEF), is on top of the P700,000 bill of Decorp from April to May this year for electric consumption of the city hall.
With the city government’s financial woes incurred under the administration of outgoing Mayor Benjamin Lim, Acting Mayor Belen Fernandez has ordered strict belt-tightening measures, which will most likely affect operations until the end of the year.
TOO MUCH OVERTIME
Fernandez, the mayor-elect, has ordered a stop on all overtime duties for workers effective immediately.
Fernandez revealed that overtime pay alone ate up some P6.7 million from August to December 2012 and January to April 2013
Workers charged P2.5 million more in overtime pay with P1.4 million alone rendered by employees during the 2013 Bangus Festival last April.
“I think this is too much for only few events in the Bangus Festival. In fact, the executive committee was already given P3 million and another P4.3 million to ensure the participation of the 31 barangays to the Gilon-gilon Street Dance,” she said.
With another P1.4 million for overtime pay, the city spent a total of P9 million for the Bangus Festival alone.
MALVERSATION
When queried by Fernandez why the city has been delinquent in paying its electric bills, Budget Officer Virgilio Tangco admitted that the problem arose when the unpaid balance for 2012 in the amount of P22 million was paid out of the 2013 budget.
Tangco said this was not the first time they did this as the November to December 2011 electric bill was also paid from the 2012 budget.
The Commission on Audit (COA) said such fund realignment, is tantamount to technical malversation, is a violation of the provision of Section 119 of Presidential Decree No. 1145.
And since the releases were done without any enabling ordinance and supplemental budgets passed by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, responsible officials are liable for violation of laws.
BELT-TIGHTENING
As part of the belt-tightening measures and in order to raise some P10 million to pay for the salaries and wages of 914 technical consultants and emergency workers, the acting mayor opted to seek the realignment of city funds.
Among the accounts that Fernandez seeks to realign to pay electric, water and telephone bills and wages of EWs are: ” publication and information program, P3.5 million; Special Projects and Program, P1 million; Cultural and Heritage Commission, P150,000; advertisement and promotion, P1 million; youth ands sports development, P100,00;’ traveling expenses (local), P700,00; traveling expenses (abroad), P300,000; training expenses, P300,000; oil and lubricant expenses, P200,000; printing and binding expenses, P150,000; and donations, P1 million.
At the same time, Fernandez directed to close some of the non-office accounts in the Mayor’s Office and agreed to realign the remaining balance of her budget in the Office of Vice Mayor of which only 25 per cent has been spent to date.
However, she said that in spite of the negative status of the city’s fund, department heads need to keep their emergency workers (EWs) who are performing essential tasks should be paid up to June.
Fernandez has earlier announced that city could no longer afford to pay the services non-essential EWs and several consultants.
EDUCATION FUND
Meanwhile, City Schools Superintendent Gloria Torres opposed the proposal of the budget office that they forgo entirely the P5 million capital outlay in the SEF.
However, she agreed to have the capital outlay for school buildings realigned to help pay the electric bills since there are 68 new schools coming to Dagupan under the national government-initiated Private-Public Partnership Program.
She asked that the capital outlay for land be made intact because city needs more area for school buildings at the Bonuan Boquig Elementary School to be built under the PPP.
Torres also agreed to a reduced number of students’ writing seats after Fernandez assured her help in seeking possible corporate sponsors.
Fernandez asked the Sangguniang Panlungsod headed by Acting Vice Mayor Maybelyn Fernandez to pass an ordinance realigning all these funds and to approve a supplemental budget to cover the city’s unpaid obligations and for the operations of the city government until June 30.
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