Payment due but Agnes not keen on distribution

ACTING Gov. Agnes Magpale yesterday said the provincial government is obliged to pay for 2,600 medals for public school students ordered from a metal engraver whose design includes the face and name of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia – but “not now”.

“I do not know if we have to distribute them. It’s obviously meant for election purposes,” she said.

Magpale said she would ask the opinion of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) about the propriety of releasing the tokens.

“I have nothing against medals. But the most one can place on it is his or her name. The name and seal (of the province) are enough,” she said.

A P520,000 purchase order was recently presented to Magpale’s office for a batch of “Governor’s Excellence Award” medals in silver and brass by local engraver Suarez Arts Metal Technology which is following up payment before delivering the goods ordered months ago in July 2012.

Each medal, which has a “3D image” of Governor Garcia’s profile and her name, is priced at P200 each.

Magpale, who routinely tells suppliers that the Capitol could only afford installment payments for priority needs due to cash flow problems, said the volume order was large.

“The amount can actually take in more scholars. I’m surprised,” she said, comparing the P.5 million bill to a budget for 100 more scholars.

For its scholarship program for poor but deserving students, the province gives P4,000 per semester for each qualified student enrolled in state-run colleges in Cebu province.

The valedictorians, salutatorians and top ten students of graduating fourth year high school students in Cebu’s public’s schools are recognized and invited to qualify for a scholarship.

MELT DOWN

Magpale said there were suggestions to return the medals and have them melted down and recast but she said the province would have to spend another amount for this process.

“We are really obliged to pay. But not now because the finances of the province are still shaky. We also have to settle the payables which came first,” Magpale told Cebu Daily News.

CDN earlier contacted the engraver for this story but top management begged off from issuing a statement. Text queries sent to Governor Garcia were also not answered.

A ban exists against putting the name or image of government officials in “billboards and signages of government programs, projects and properties” under Memorandum Circular No. 2010-101 of the Department of Interior and Local Governments signed by the late Secretary Jesse Robredo.

While no penalty is stated in the memo, the practice is listed as an example of “irregular expenditures” in circular No. 2012-003 of the Commission on Audit based on the DILG policy.