Rama: Raps vs. former city officials should be a lesson

CEBU, Philippines - Acting Mayor Michael Rama yesterday said the case of the two City Hall officials and two former department heads who were convicted by the Sandiganbayan for allowing a disbursing officer to incur unliquidated cash advances amounting to P9.8 million should serve as a lesson to other incumbent city officials.

Rama explained that it will be difficult for the city to help those who were convicted by the anti-graft court because the government lawyers are not allowed to act as counsel against the government.

The Sandiganbayan found that four ex city officials, former city administrator Allan Gaviola, former cash division chief Benilda Bacasmas, former city treasurer and now real property section chief Eustaquio Cesa and former accounting chief Edna Jaca are liable for the missing funds.

The argument of the anti-graft court is that if the concerned officials had really performed their tasks, cashier Luz Gonzales would not have incurred huge unliquidated cash advances.

The state audit procedures also provide that the cash advances made for local purposes should be liquidated not later than one month, but since the city officials still allowed Gonzales to have additional cash advances without liquidating her unliquidated cash advances, the cashier incurred P9.8 million in unliquidated cash advances.

Rama said he is hoping that the case will serve as a lesson to other city officials that if they are not vigilant in signing documents they might end up facing charges in court.

He said there was an instance that he called the attention of his staff after he found one of the documents that was submitted to his office for signing was questionable.

“Mao na nga kinahanglang sa dili pa kita mopirma, tan-awon g’yod usa ninyo pag-ayo kon unsay inyong gipirmahan,” Rama said in an earlier interview with reporters.

The anti-graft court ordered them to pay the missing funds aside from sentencing each of them to 12 to 15 years in prison. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP (THE FREEMAN)