By the Bohol Chronicle
The public is banned from the City Accountant’s Office (CAO), an administration’s act which is probably a bad first in the history of Tagbilaran City governance.
Many government officials and employees were shocked to see the sign “OFF LIMITS TO EVERYONE†already posted outside the office created for the people and whose insiders are paid by people’s taxes.
Only authorized “personnel, messengers and carriers delivering mails and communication†are spared from the prohibition, believed by many at city hall to be ordered by the mayor on “ill advises†from within his power circle.
Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso and Councilor Zenaido Rama reacted to the overly strict rule, saying it can jeopardize the operation of many city government departments.
The only authorized government personnel who can get inside the accounting office are the “designated messengers and liason officers of the city mayor, General Services Office (GSO), City Budget Office (CBO) and City Treasurer’s Office (CTO).â€
Officers and employees of other offices worry over who can be allowed now to process their payrolls and follow up papers involving the operation of their offices.
The off-limit warning says all officers and employees of all other departments are welcome but “only upon invitation†by the accounting office.
Rama assailed the ban as a nemesis to transparency in the government, adding that it can also only further spawn suspicion of irregularities at city hall which may be fully exposed if the accounting office is open to the public.
The prohibition has been ordered as Veloso and the minority councilors professed to sustain their vigilance after the approval of the annual city budget they tagged as “irregular and suspicious.â€
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