CEBU City Councilor Gerardo Carillo yesterday threatened to file a complaint against the Local Finance Committee (LFC) if members continue to ignore the council’s request for updates on the city’s finances.
He said that their refusal to appear before the council violates the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Carillo’s threat didn’t sit well with Mayor Michael Rama who ordered the committee members not to show up.
“He should not threaten them. Maybe he would be the one to face charges,” Rama said.
The mayor referred to the Kuerks bar incident in which Carillo was accused of hitting a minor on the head with a stone.
Rama said he has sympathetic friends who may file the complaint against Carillo.
The council called on finance committee members like Acting City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo, budget officer Nelfa Briones and acting city development and planning officer Jose Marie Poblete to shed light on a Commission on Audit (COA) report.
The COA’s Audit Observation Memorandum mentioned that the city may have overspent by close to P1 billion in 2012. But none of them were present at the council session hall.
Even the COA representative, state auditor 1 Emmanuel Tampus, begged off from answering the council’s questions.
He instead asked legislators to put their queries in writing so that a proper response will also be made by his office.
Councilor Margot Osmeña said the council, particularly the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bloc, will invite the finance committee members to attend the session on Aug. 20.
But this time, their appearance will in an executive session “to accede to Rama’s concerns (that they may be shamed during the public hearing),” she said
“We want to show that all that we are after here is transparency,” she told reporters yesterday.
Team Rama ally, Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos asked the BO-PK bloc to respect the mayor’s prerogatives.