122 Bacolod gov’t vehicles remain unaccounted for

BACOLOD CITY—The city government is looking for 122 vehicles it assigned to its employees after these could not be accounted for during an inventory done on Jan. 28.

Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez earlier required employees who were issued city-owned vehicles to bring these to the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC) grounds for inventory to check if these were still being used.

Employees, who could not account for the vehicles would be facing malversation charges, said Karol Joseph Chiu, the mayor’s secretary.

“The mayor plans to have the city government vehicles repaired and those that are unserviceable bidded out,” Chiu said.

Benitez also wanted to check on the status of the vehicles because these might be tapped in his new project, the MABB (Mayor Albee Bantug Benitez) Cab system, which was launched last week.

MABB Cab is a mobile app, similar to any ride-hailing app, wherein any government office that needs transportation service assistance can book a ride for their fieldwork or to render public service.

This initiative is one way to monitor the condition of the city-owned vehicles and to ensure that all the drivers of the city government will function according to their duties, especially since there are offices that need transportation assistance, local officials said.

But during the inventory, Chiu said, only 378 vehicles were taken for inspection to the BCGC.

City Administrator Pacifico Maghari III earlier said government property, including vehicles, should stay in government premises.

The mayor, Maghari said, noticed that some government vehicles were idle, sometimes for a whole day, while some were being used for personal or family errands.

The Office of the Ombudsman has been reminding government officials and employees not to use government-owned vehicles for personal trips or bring a government vehicle to places like markets, restaurants, hotels, resorts, or any other places where no official business is involved.

The rules regulating the use of government motor vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft are stated under Commission on Audit Circular No. 75-6, issued on Nov. 7, 1975. These were crafted in line with the government’s effort to conserve fuel and to economize on expenditures relating to the use, operation and maintenance of government vehicles.

Last week, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson ordered the dismissal from service of four employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist for allegedly using a government vehicle beyond office hours while engaging in a drinking spree at a restaurant in Victorias City.

—CARLA GOMEZ INQ