Finance execs barred from council hearing

CEBU City Hall’s Local Finance Committee (LFC) members were barred anew by Mayor Michael Rama from appearing in today’s public hearing in the Cebu City Council.

The hearing aims to clarify an Audit Observation Memorandum which said Cebu City may have exceeded its 2012 expenditures by close to P1 billion.

Rama said he wanted to first see a “bill of particulars” that would spell out the scope of the discussion before allowing local finance committee members like Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo to attend today’s hearing.

“Let us put things in the proper perspective,” Rama said.

Camarillo confirmed she would attend today’s public hearing along with Commission on Audit (COA) officials, according to Councilor Gerardo Carillo.

Camarillo was previously relieved from her post by Rama after she admitted in a previous council budget hearing that the city can’t meet its fiscal targets.

Camarillo became acting city treasurer after the term of her replacement, Emma Villarete, expired.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, the council’s budget committee chairperson, said in a separate interview that Rama is again being inconsistent in his dealings with the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).

“Yesterday (on Monday) he was talking to us.  Now he is different,” she said.

Osmeña said the council only wanted to be briefed on the city’s finances to serve as a guide in legislation.

Councilor Carillo was also scheduled to deliver a privilege speech asking the executive department when they will release the remaining P6,000 balance of the P10,000 senior citizens’ aid allotment.

“The seniors wanted me to sponsor a resolution to inquire why the balance of their allowance has not been released as promised on July 24,” he said.

A P600 million outlay was included in the 2013 budget for the release of the P10,000 financial assistance to about 50,000 qualified senior citizens.

Aside from senior citizens assistance, Carillo said the city has yet to release the second quarter assistance to barangay officials computed at P5,000 each for barangay captains and P3,000 each for the councilors and barangay secretaries.

Rama said the city government still has funds to support its operations.

He said financial discussions should be done by the time he presents his proposed supplemental budget 2 and the draft of the 2014 executive budget.

“What are they (the council) trying to prove? They wanted to put the LFC on the witness stand and before the scrutiny of the public?”

The Commission on Audit said the Cebu City government spent most of its 2012 appropriation on personnel services and Maintenance, Operations and Other Expenditures (MOOE) resulting to a decline in its net income surplus of P205 million by year end.

Last year’s net income was 69 percent less than the 2011 net income of P678.4 million.

Auditors directed Cebu City officials to review its operations and adopt austerity measures in order to save government funds.