Evaluation on finance compliance: BLGF checks Mandaue City treasury

CEBU, Philippines — The Local Treasury Operations Division of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) Central Office conducted yesterday a surprise evaluation of Mandaue City's treasury operations, assessing the city's compliance with financial regulations and operational procedures.

BLGF Central Office Officer Cynthia Faurillo told reporters that although the evaluation is still ongoing, Mandaue City has so far been found compliant with the daily recording of transactions and the timely deposit of collections.

“Regular na part ng function namin regular na nag-e-evaluate kami sa mga LGUs (Local Government Units),” she said.

Faurillo said that the purpose of the evaluation is to ensure that LGUs, like Mandaue, are compliant with the rules and regulations set by the BLGF.

Additionally, the BLGF will also help LGUs by recommending strategies for revenue generation, if it finds areas for improvement during the evaluation.

Faurillo said that the BLGF evaluates LGUs once every three years, but it has been a long time since Mandaue was last evaluated by the BLGF Regional Office.

Mandaue City Assistant Treasurer Julia Ballesteros also confirmed that the last evaluation by the BLGF Regional Office took place before the Covid-19 pandemic, which occurred in 2021.

Ballesteros said that during the ongoing evaluation, the city's cash books were reviewed, with all documents found to be updated and in order. She said that despite not being evaluated for several years, the process has proceeded smoothly.

“Kay ang cash division sige na nila’g update ang ilang recording,” she said.

Faurillo said that since the evaluators are from the BLGF Central Office, they can conduct evaluations of any LGU, including Mandaue.

The BLGF evaluates LGUs based on the operations of their local treasury offices, assessing their adherence to financial regulations and operational procedures.

The evaluation of Mandaue City's treasury operations, which started yesterday, will continue today, Dec. 18.

“Binibigyan namin sila ng time para ma-update ang mga records, cash books, and other transactions,” Faurillo said.

She said the duration of the evaluation depends on whether the LGU’s records are updated.

Faurillo said that if the records are in good condition, the evaluation would only take two days. If not, the evaluation could take up to three days or even a week. — (FREEMAN)