Back to normal in Rodriguez
By Marlon Ramos, Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:07:00 03/27/2008
MANILA, Philippines – Acting Mayor Jonas Cruz of Rodriguez town in Rizal province Wednesday declared that things were back to normal at the town hall, two days after suspended Mayor Pedro Cuerpo and his supporters forced their way inside the building.
After two days of conducting the town’s business in his house, Cruz returned to his office just a few meters away from the Mayor’s Office where Cuerpo and his supporters are still holed up.
“I want to inform my town mates that they can now go to the municipal hall without being harassed and intimidated,” Cruz said in a press briefing Wednesday in San Mateo town.
Despite his announcement, security at the town hall remained tight as guards and policemen searched the bags of visitors and government employees. Cruz himself was accompanied by his supporters and eight heavily armed police escorts.
The acting mayor said he would not force Cuerpo and his followers to leave the building “as long as they do not break the law and peace and order in the area.”
At the same time, however, he presented a Commission on Audit report questioning Cuerpo’s disbursement of town funds amounting to more than P429 million in 2006.
“I decided to come out with this report after I carefully studied it to see if there was any truth to it. Actually, this COA report first came out in some tabloids several weeks ago,” Cruz said as he brushed off allegations that he was trying to further discredit Cuerpo.
Based on the report, more than P38 million worth of infrastructure projects in Rodriguez were paid for by the local government without the necessary documentation. The COA also noted that almost P25 million worth of projects were given to companies that did not put up any performance bond.
The report questioned unliquidated P2.9 million in cash advances; the defrayal of dishonored checks worth more than P540,000; the disbursement of more than P129 million of the town’s funds without supplementary records and unaccounted local properties worth almost P254 million.
The COA also noted that the local government’s budget for personnel rose by almost 1,000 percent. From P38.7 million the previous year, the town paid a total of P343 million for “manpower cost” in 2006.
Cruz said he was contemplating filing appropriate charges against Cuerpo and would submit the COA report to the Office of the Ombudsman “for the antigraft agency to do a deeper investigation on the matter.”
In reaction, Cuerpo expressed doubts about the authenticity of the COA report. He added that the findings could have been part of an unfinished audit report, which the town’s accounting department has yet to answer. “I am not bothered by it. I did not do anything wrong,” he said.
Cuerpo – who was initially placed by the Rizal provincial council under a 60-day suspension that was stretched to six months for illegally raising the levies on the town’s landfills – declared that he would remain at the town hall until the Office of the President resolves his appeal on his suspension.
“It’s a symbolic protest. I’m the elected mayor. Although I am here, I am not functioning as mayor,” he added, noting that the suspension did not bar him from going to his office.
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