Cebu now depends on IRA–acting gov

CEBU CITY—“We are now IRA (internal revenue allotment) dependent.”

Acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale made this statement in describing the present financial status and cash flow of the provincial government, one of the country’s richest provinces that didn’t have debts.

The province no longer has funds based on the cash examination report that showed the provincial government only had P81,651,066 in its General Fund as of Jan. 8, she told a news conference.

She warned that the employees might not receive their salaries for the first half of January on time because funds were short.

The province needs P45 million to pay the salaries of over 1,600 employees, including casuals and contractuals.

Cebu gets P133-million IRA each month, which the province would usually get on the 12th or 13th of the month. But according to Magpale, she had been told that “historically,” the IRA was usually delayed in January.

Magpale met with the Bureau of Local Government and Finance (BLGF) personnel, headed by acting regional director Herminigilda Garsula, to help her examine the cash flow of the province.

Magpale wrote to the Department of Finance’s BLGF and sought assistance after taking over as acting governor following the suspension of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for grave abuse of authority. Garcia has defied the suspension issued by Malacañang on Dec. 19 and has been holed up in her office.

In an interview, Garsula said that so far, they did not find any discrepancy in the financial records.

Based on the examination on the province’s cash flow, Magpale said the payables of the province now reached more than P200 million, although the suppliers and service providers  agreed that they can be paid in installments.

So far, the province had issued several checks as payment, including P5.9 million to Perfect Clean, which provides janitorial and manpower services to the Cebu provincial government. The Cebu provincial government owes P13 million to Perfect Clean.

Magpale also signed a check for P500,000 for assistance for the holding of the Sinulog Festival.

Magpale said the province owed P5.04 million for the satellite operations of Sugbo TV, a province-ran cable channel over Skycable.

She reiterated that she would never touch the province’s P235 million trust fund because it had been earmarked.

Aside from the trust fund, the province also had P61,603,877.96 in special education fund.

Garcia earlier said that the province still has a trust fund of over P200 million and additional revenues, such as the Filinvest monthly payment of P600,000 for the long-term lease of a 1.2-hectare property and the more than P1-billion payment for the sale of the province-owned lots to the occupants.