“Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest.â€
This government statement of policy is now being put to test by a taxpayer demanding copy of the city government’s Summary of Budget and Expenditures.
Former OIC Governor and bar top-notcher Victor de la Serna went to city hall Wednesday morning requesting copy of the city’s annual budget and expenditures for the year 2006.
City Budget Officer Rosemarie Palma, however, resisted De la Serna’s move by demanding that the former write a formal letter first.
Wasting no time, De la Serna right there and them made a handwritten Letter-Request as required by Palma. To the lawyer’s dismay, Palma again refused to provide the requested copy which was readily available that time and instead told De la Serna that she will first endorsed the request to the office of the Mayor for further instructions.
Section 5, Duties of Public Officials and Employees, Paragraph (e) of the “CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES†(R.A.6713) provides that: (e) “All public documents must be made accessible to, and readily available for inspection by, the public within reasonable working hours.â€
Despite the initial resistance, De la Serna said he will wait.
The request was also submitted to the office of acting City Accountant Eleonor Beniga. The same law, RA 6713 Sec. 5, (a) states that: “All public officials and employees shall, within fifteen (15) working days from receipt thereof, respond to letters, telegrams or other means of communications sent by the public. The reply must contain the action taken on the request.â€
“If they have nothing to hide, then they will give copy of these documents which every taxpayer has the right to scrutinize and look into.â€
“From these documents we can determine how the city mayor spent the taxpayers’ money and where he got all those huge expenditures for travels, in and outside the country,†De la Serna said.
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