Rama to CCSC: Be transparent

CEBU, Philippines - Mayor Michael Rama wants the management of the Cebu City Sports Center to regularly submit financial statements to the City Government for transparency.

The mayor will closely monitor the finances of the sports center. He said although the facility is not owned by City Hall, it is not illegal for the Office of the Mayor to monitor its transactions like revenue collections, expenses and other financial-related matters.

Sports Center Manager Ricky Ballesteros welcomed the mayor’s decision and assured they are ready to explain to the public all the transactions of the facility.

The facility earns from entrance fees, rentals of equipment and space and other collections. Its depository bank is the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

The mayor’s plan to closely monitor the financial matters of the sports center came days after the Cebu City Sports Center management increased its entrance fee from P10 to P15 and P20 for night users.

 The 18-year-old sports center served as one of the venues during the Palarong Pambansa in 1994.

It is managed by a committee headed by retired Education Regional Director Eladio Dioko.

Other members include Cebu City Public School’s Superintendent Rhea Mar Angtud and Ballesteros as manager of the facility.

Ballesteros said their collections and expenses are audited by an internal auditor and reviewed by an independent private auditing firm to ensure transparency of their financial transactions.

“We have monthly financial statement and annual statement and these are open to the public for scrutiny,” said Ballesteros.

Records show that the sports center earned more or less P1 million a month from office space rentals, parking and entrance fees and other collections.

But most of its collection is spent on the maintenance of the facility.

In 2009, the facility earned P12.7 million but its expenditures reached P12.8 million or a deficit of over P113,000. 

The following year the sports center had an income of P14.7 million and spent P13.8 million or a net income of P856,000.

The mayor said the facility is supposed to report its operation to the city, including purchase of supplies so it can be subjected to proper bidding.

Rama earlier planned to implement a revamp of the Cebu City Sports Center Management Committee in preparation for a feasibility study to determine if the facility is viable to be a local economic enterprise.

This is because the city needs more sources of income to provide better services to its constituents.

The city recently spent P26 million for the repair of the the rubberized track oval of the sports center.

It also helped spend for the construction of the facility but the lot is owned by the Department of Education. — (FREEMAN)