Too costly

Too many non-paying guests.

Too small revenues.

A review by the Commission on Audit (COA) Cebu on the provincial government’s Suroy Suroy Sugbo program in 2012 showed that expenses exceed its total revenue collection.

The comments were contained in an Audit Observation Memorandum dated May 16 addressed to Cebu Acting Gov. Agnes Magpale.

It said operating costs and related expenses amounted to P11.45 million or 201 percent higher than its total revenue of P3.79 million.

On top of this, the Capitol still has to pay a bill for P67.5 million for 26 brand-new tourist buses that were bought in October last year and already delivered.

“While we agree that the program is a laudable one to promote Cebu province as a prime tourist destination, the expenses incurred could have been minimized had management exercised more prudence in the disbursement of government funds,” said State Auditor Eva Cabrera and the supervising auditor Charlta Leopoldo the auditors.

The COA report described the program started in 2004 during the administration of suspended Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia as “incurring unnecessary, extravagant, irregular and excessive expenditures to the prejudice of the local government unit.”

The auditors said the small revenue collection of the tours in 2012 were largely due to the “disparity” of the number of paying and non-paying participants.

The ratio was three non-paying entourage members compared to only two paying participants in a group of five participants, said COA.

REIVSED FORMAT

Acting Governor Magpale has said the Suroy Suroy Sugbo program would continue under a revised format, learning from the excesses of the past management, so that it focuses on promoting destinations and not “political personalities”.

Head coordinator Mary Grace Paulino said the next Suroy-Suroy tour will be staged in midwest Cebu on July or August this year.

The figures in the COA report covered four Suroy Suroy tours conducted in January, April, June and September 2012 when Garcia was still governor.

COA described the program as a tour caravan to a cluster of towns and cities usually taking two to three days. Guests pay a registration fee that includes room accomodation, transportation, English-speaking tour guides, meals, cultural entertainment and a souvenir T-shirt.

The report also cited the P67.5 million payable to contractor ConEquip Philippines for 26 buses imported from China in October.

“Based on the number of participants, both paying and non-paying, the 26 buses could be considered as very much in excess,” said auditors.

In earlier reports, Magpale said the bus purchase had no approval from the Provincial Board and that she still has to decided whether to pay the suplier.

The buses were already delivered to various towns and used in two Suroy-Suroy tours to south Cebu and to Camotes Islands under a revised format this year led by Magpale.

Each 35-seater bus costs P2.5 million. They were awarded to various towns as top performers of the E-Gwen program.ng participants

NON-PAYING GUESTS

Auditors noted the “disparity” of the number of paying and non-paying participants.

There were 250 paying guests in the January Suroy-Suroy tour and 200 in the April tour. The numbers were higher than non-paying participants at 106 and 130.

However, in the June tour, there were more participants who joined for free or 178 compared to 122 paying guests.

It was the same scenario in September where 172 did not pay compared to only 108 paying participants.

Auditors also noted that while the Capitol rented tourist buses for January, June and September, the entourage listed 14, 17 and 25 drivers respectively.

The COA recommended setting a clear criteria on who can qualify as guests who join for free since none was provided. Most of these listed were private individuals.

Auditors said that this practice may have violated the law that provides that no government funds shall be spent for a private purpose.

COA also recommended that the tour management justify the number of members in its entourange including private guests and individuals. Guidelines should be set to justify the role of each member.

Also considered “excessive” spending was providing non-paying participants with freebies in the tour such as t-shirts, sun visors, umbrellas, polo shirts with airconditioned-room accomodations in each tour.

Auditors said if the Province had used the P800 per diems allowable by law during the travels, it could have spent less for non-paying participants and reduced expenses by P1.16 million in the September tour.

No recorded ordinance

The COA review noted that that no resolution or ordinance exists for the creation and funding of Suroy-Suroy Sugbo.

It was only in September last year when the Provincial Board passed Ordinance No. 2012-12 that institutionalized the tour.

The first Suroy Suroy Sugbo was conceptualized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2004 and was staged in north Cebu to offer visitors a sampler of Cebu’s culture, heritage and nature attractions outside the city.

It later became an annual program of Garcia with tour legs exploring different regions of Cebu province. It also was criticized as a vehicle for boosting Garcia’s political stock.