Mayor told to explain use of P130M in taxes

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Gov. Luisa Cuaresma asked a town mayor to explain the alleged misuse of local funds in excess of P130 million, the town’s share of taxes collected from an American power firm.

Cuaresma also asked Mayor Jerry Pasigian of Alfonso Castañeda town to settle the notices of disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) for municipal expenses made using the town’s shares from real property taxes (RPT) and the special education fund (SEF).

A notice of disallowance is an accounting document that disapproves a transaction; in this case, the government’s expenses.

The RPT and SEF benefited from payments made by the California Energy (CE)-Casecnan, which operates a hydroelectric power plant there. Cuaresma said the province will not release the town’s shares, amounting to P42.5 million, unless town officials comply with her directive.

“As the governor, I cannot simply ignore the apparent misuse of the taxes… and simply allow the municipality to further recklessly spend such taxes without at least having an idea as to how the previous taxes remitted to your municipality have been utilized,” she said in an Oct. 17 letter, which was released to reporters on Friday.

She addressed reports which claimed that Alfonso Castañeda officials went on a spending binge despite that fact that the taxes paid by CE-Casecnan were made “under protest.”

The Inquirer tried but failed to reach Pasigian for comment. The person who answered calls made to his mobile telephone said it was not the mayor’s number. Other contact numbers attributed to Pasigian were no longer in service.

Town officials, however, are preparing to go to court to compel Cuaresma to release Alfonso Castañeda’s RPT share.

“I have already received the petition but I was informed that they have not filed it yet,” said lawyer Leslie Costales, provincial legal officer.

A COA official, who asked not to be named for lack of authority to speak publicly on the matter, said state auditors have exerted efforts to persuade the Alfonso Castañeda government to correct these anomalies but officials were “just too stubborn.”

Cuaresma cited reports from the COA, which revealed that aside from P130 million in “disallowed” expenses, the town also faced more notices of disallowance amounting to several millions for their failure to settle prior “notices of suspension.”

She cited Section 200 of the Local Government Code, which states that the province “shall be primarily responsible for the proper, efficient and effective administration of the (RPT).”