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THE acting Mayor of Rodriguez, Rizal on Wednesday
made public what appear to be significant anomalous transactions
apparently carried out by suspended Mayor Pedro Cuerpo, citing the
2006 Commission on Audit (COA) annual report.
In a press conference, acting
Mayor Jonas Cruz of Rodriguez bared the COA report indicating
unaccounted transactions of the municipality valued at P429 million
that the COA questioned.
“The funds involved in these
transactions are the money of the people of Rodriguez. My leadership
vows to pursue a transparent government and the one that is
accountable to the people,” said Cruz.
COA reported that performance
bonds for the completed projects of at least P24,948,780 were not
required from concerned contractors contrary to Law.
“There is a need to investigate
whether or not these projects were awarded by the suspended mayor
without the benefit of transparent and valid public bidding and who
the contractors were,” said Cruz, stressing that the people need
to know why the said contractors enjoyed such generosity from the
municipal government . . .
Cruz underscored cash advances
amounting to some P2.9 million that remain unaccounted as per the
COA annual audit report for 2006.
“According to COA, several
account balances could not be ascertained due to absence of complete
records to validate it,” said Cruz.
COA also reported that some
P253.9-million worth of municipal property and equipment couldn’t
be accounted for.
“The report also shows that the
assets which are obsolete and no longer serviceable are still
carried in the book of the municipality,” he pointed out.
“The question topmost in the
mind of the people of Rodriguez is this—Why is there an apparent
effort to confuse and muddle up the financial and property records
of the municipality?” Cruz stressed.
The acting Mayor noted that in
2005, the municipality’s manpower cost a mere P38.7 million, which
in 2006 ballooned to P343.06 million, a year prior to the elections.
“Was it merely coincidental
that the nearly 1000 percent increase happened just before the May
2007 elections? The giant increase leaves a lot of questions in the
minds of my constituents. Who are these people? Where are the
payrolls? How do you justify this number of employment?” Cruz
asked.
Cruz stressed that his group will
forward the COA report to the Office of the Ombudsman for
appropriate investigation and legal action, while noting this
development has nothing to do with the suspension.
Cuerpo for his part said he is
not surprised by the development saying that his political enemies
will throw everything just to get back at him.
“Di na ako nagtataka at handa
akong harapin yan. Inaasahan ko na yan na hahanap sila ng mga ganyan
kahit na walang tamang basehan [I’m not surprised as I expected
them to raise such issues even without basis],” said the embattled
local executive presently holed up in the Mayor’s Office at the
municipal hall.
Following two days of
tension-filled standoff situation at the Rodriguez town hall,
employees were allowed entry by heavily armed policemen and attend
to their duties.
--James Konstantin Galvez
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