Published by the Bohol Chronicle
Tagbilaran Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso has warned the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) of releasing the second P50-million loan to the city government or it could become an accomplice to irregular transactions at city hall.
Endorsing opposition and position papers bearing signatures gathered in a drive of outraged city residents to the DBP head office in Makati City, the vice mayor appealed to the bank's president and chief executive officer Reynaldo David to "prevent an imminent and irreparable damage to the city as the release of the said loan runs counter to the provisions of the Local Government Code (LGC) and other pertinent laws."
In his letter sent to the DBP head yesterday, Veloso said taxpayers of Tagbilaran would be "adversely affected" if the loan is released.
Even after the majority bloc of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) railroaded a supplemental budget for the implementation of the loaned fund, the vice mayor informed David that the city legislature has not received, despite repeated demands, the program of works and accomplishment reports pertaining to the utilization of the first P50-million loan.
Several provisions of the LGC were not observed by the local finance committee, according to Veloso, such as the conduct of semi-annual review and general examination of cost and accomplishments against performance standards applied in undertaking development projects.
Under the same policy, reports must be made accessible to the public by the local chief executive.
The vice mayor cautioned that releasing the P50-million in second tranche will not only violate the LGC but is also "a glaring defiance of the basic tenets of transparency and public accountability."
The loan package is supposed to cover road rehabilitation projects but the SP has not even adopted a resolution from the City Development Council (CDC) for the purpose.
Veloso said he suspects the loan was deliberately done in tranches of P50-million to evade the scrutiny of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).
The agency's approval is a requisite before an LGU can obtain a loan exceeding P50-million.
The vice mayor informed the DBP that the loan "appears to be disadvantageous to the city" as records show that the city government has an estimated accumulated budget surplus of more than P100-million.
"Why not use the said surplus for a project on maintenance and utilize the loan for a capital outlay project, such as concreting or asphalting?" the vice mayor noted.
Likewise, Veloso brought up the hasty ratification of the loan contract despite unclear terms and conditions and without any representative from the DBP to explain the details on how much the city will pay in interest as the contract states that the interest rate will be solely determined by the bank.
"Tyranny of the majority in our Sangguniang Panlungsod indeed catered the conjuring approval of what clearly appeared to irregular and abhorrent," the letter stated.
DBP executive vice president Jesus Guevarra and vice president Rosalier Dagondon were likewise furnished copies of the vice mayor's letter.
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