Danao council wants freeze on P30M funds
THE Danao City Council has asked the Danao City branch of Landbank-Philippines not to honor the P30 million trust fund deposited by the city government without authority from the Provincial Board (PB).
PB Member Carmen Remedios Durano Meca elevated the council’s request to the board in its regular session last Monday.
The P30 million was intended for the rehabilitation of the water pipes in barangay Poblacion.
However suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered the realignment of half of the funds to pay for the salaries of job order workers whose plantilla wasn’t covered by the city’s 2013 budget.
Acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale later disallowed the realignment following a Commission on Audit (COA) directive which stated that realigning funds need prior approval from the PB.
Meca said the council sought COA’s opinion on the issue. Mayor Ramon “Boy” Durano Jr. and Vice Mayor Ramon “Nito” Durano III are running against each other for the city’s mayoralty post in this year’s midterm elections.
“There is a need to ensure that the funds taken from the appropriation for water projects of the province are spent for legal and valid purposes only,” Meca said.
Meca called on the PB to investigate the council’s request in order to identify the officials accountable for this irregularity. Correspondent Renan Alangilan
