Excessive fuel consumption and unregistered phone calls were among the red flags raised by state auditors in their review of Talisay City’s expenditures made last year.
In its 2010 report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said there’s an “excessive consumption” of gasoline and diesel fuel for the vehicles under the Talisay mayor’s office.
The auditors cited in particular the Toyota Revo with plate number SGH 541 and the Kia Sportage bearing plate number JCV-768 that were both used by Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez’s controversial adopted son Joavan.
They said some vehicles consumed more than 1,000 liters of fuel in certain months or an average of over 30 liters per day including weekends.
These vehicles are used without trip tickets which would justify the reason behind their use.
“Controls for the issuance of purchase orders for fuels for motor vehicle of certain offices were not conscientiously observed resulting in excessive purchases of these items to the disadvantage of other programs,” the state auditors said in their report.
The two vehicles used by Joavan consumed P351,487 worth of fuel from January to December last year.
The Revo consumed between 151 to 1,050 liters of gasoline every month while the Sportage used 78 to 312 liters of gasoline.
“This reveals a total lack of control on the use of motor vehicles and fuel,” the COA report said.
Talisay City Hall said Mayor Fernandez ordered the budget officer to monitor the trend in fuel consumption so any excess amount will be charged to his personal account.
COA recommended the proper monitoring and control on the use of motor vehicles and fuel.
They also suggested that ceilings or limits are imposed on fuel consumption for vehicles of every office in Talisay City Hall.
The Toyota Revo as used by Joavan was chased by police authorities last Sept. 13. Drug paraphernalia were found inside the vehicle.
Mayor Fernandez said the Toyota Revo was assigned to Joavan since he handled the city’s feeding program.
The Kia Sportage with plate number JCV- 768 was used by Joavan during his armed confrontation with a canteen attendant in Talisay City last December.
State auditors also noted the P109,453 telephone bill of the mayor’s office for six months last year.
The amount which comprised 76 percent of the city government’s total phone bills came from the landline to cell phone calls made between two to 53 calls a day.
The auditors said personnel from different departments would make their calls in the office without recording them on a logbook.
They also questioned why department heads and their assistants received P1,000 to P2,500 load allowance a month.
Aside from internal controls, COA said officers who make landline to cell phone calls will have them charged to their load allowance.
The auditors likewise questioned the cash incentives worth P4,914,100 to 1,038 City Hall job order personnel.
COA said job order employees are not covered by the Civil Service law, which prescribes that only regular government employees enjoy full benefits.
Also included in the detailed findings in the COA report are the P44.5 million unreconciled balance on Talisay City’s Property Plant and Equipment (PPE) and the payment of lot purchases worth P40 million which did not undergo pre-audit due to lack of documents.