Sue ex-city brass for mess – Rosario
HEADS must roll.
This was the recommendation of a ranking Dagupan official, echoing the call of the public to bring to court those involved in dragging the city into its current financial crisis with not enough left in the coffer to cover expenses until the end of the year.
City Planning and Development Officer Romeo Rosario said those accountable should be charged before the Ombudsman.
“Nagble-bleed ang siyudad. Mayroong over-spending at mayroon pang deficit… Ito ay maliwanag na may nagawang pagwawaldas sa pera ng bayan,” he said.
Rosario made the call following the proposal of the Local Finance Committee (LCF) for a new slash in the budget of every department to plug an expected collection shortfall of P30 million for 2013.
Rosario blamed the previous members of the LCF for the over-projection in the annual income vis-à-vis the P612 million approved budget.
He said the LFC members set the projected income knowing that the city could not realistically collect the amount.
The previous LFC under the administration of former Mayor Benjamin Lim was composed of then City Administrator Vladimir Mata, who was the chairman, Virgilio Tangco who opted to retire in May this year, City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara, and City Accountant Teresita Manaois.
The mayor has directed City Legal Officer George Mejia to write a letter to Mata asking him to appear in the Executive Session and answer questions about how the past administration spent almost the entire budget for 2013 within the first half of the year.
“As former chairman of the Local Finance Committee, Bids and Awards Committee, city administrator, OIC planning officer and head of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, I am inviting Mr. Mata to come out and explain to the people of Dagupan what happened to the budget of our city,” Fernandez said.
Rosario also said, “I think the chairman of the LFC need to explain all of these, why did this happen despite the fact that in the past several years, we were already suffering from financial hemorrhage.”
Alcantara and Manaois are still with the city government as well as the LCF.
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