The Commission on Audit filed a two-page notice of disallowance last October 29, 2009 against some of the government officials in the city of Manila. The notice was filed after it was found that the claims for the consultancy payment of the 21 consultants, who were supposedly appointed to work at the office of the mayor, were deficient. Domingo C. Bocalan Jr., State Auditor IV, who did the auditing of the said vouchers claimed that the 21 names of the consultants included in the payroll submitted for auditing were unreal, and that the contracted services did not took place. This under-the-table transaction have cost the city P5,058,000.00.
The notice of disallowance was filed soon after Mayor Alfredo Lim said in his affidavit that he did not have any knowledge, whatsoever, of the said transaction, and that he never authorized the purported contracted services to take place. The Mayor also added that he never signed any contract related to the purported services nor did he granted the payment for the supposed 21 consultants. The Mayor's statement was backed up by three officers assigned at the city Mayor's office. They are Rowena Senatin, Helen Natividad and Arturo Mijares.
In their affidavit, the three staff pointed out that the names of the 21 consultants in the payrolls submitted to them were not appointed by the mayor to work in his office. Senatin, Natividad and Mijares also confirmed that consultants in the voucher were inexistent. This government anomaly is a clear manifestation of the ongoing corrupt practices in the local government of Manila. Likewise, this transaction was not necessarily carried out to help the city but a mere justification for the involved personnel to acquire personal gains.
Eleven officials from the accounting and property division of the local government of Manila were named as the persons liable for the said anomalous transaction. The officials include Pacifico Lagramada, Yolanda Ignacio, Marleen Young, Gloria Quilantang, Vicky Valientes, Erlinda Marteja, Philip Cabalun II, Cherry Chan, Alicia Moscaya, Fritz Noel Borres, and Rodelio Leyson. The said individuals were responsible for facilitating the payment of the fictitious 21 consultants worth P5,058,000.00 without rendering actual services. Mayor Alfredo Lim and the affidavit of his staffs attested the involvement of the said personnel.
In the notice submitted by Bocolan, he recommended that the involved personnel from the accounting and property division of the city of Manila to refund the P5,058,000.00. The said amount was the payment for the consultants of the alleged contracted services. The notice of disallowance given by the Commission on Audit is final and executory under the law, and can only be appealed by the involved participants in the anomalous transaction within six months from the day the notice was filed. The inability to comply with the notice will allow the Commission on Audit to take necessary actions in order to settle the issue.
Although Mayor Alfredo Lim, in his affidavit, served as the way to expose this particular corrupt activity, it appears that something in this picture does not coordinate. It is known that every local project are needed to be approved by the mayor before it is facilitated; in this instance though, what remains questionable is the fact that the project was not hindered although Mayor Lim said that he did not approved it. Although the involved people in this anomalous transaction were already held liable for their corrupt practice, answering this question would somehow shed light to the blind side of the story. The public is waiting for this side of the story to be clarified.
The Commission on Audit filed a notice of disallowance against some of the officials from the local government of the city of Manila. The notice was given as a response to the government anomaly that concerns the payment of P5,058,000.00 among the fictitious 21 consultants who were allegedly contracted to work for the office of Mayor Alfredo Lim. The Commission on Audit recommended the officials to refund the full amount as a means to settle the issue.
-Julius Arante
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