MMDA urged to submit financial report to mayors’ council

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay is asking Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando to submit a financial report to the Metro Mayors Council (MMC).

He said Fernando should detail how he has been spending the agency’s budget since 2001.

Binay, in a letter to Fernando, said the MMDA chief must submit along with the expenditure report a copy of the resolutions approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) for each project.

He explained that under the MMDA Charter only the MMC has the power to approve the policies and programs of the MMDA, while the chairman merely implements the council’s decisions.

Without the MMC Resolution, Binay said Fernando’s projects and programs are deemed unauthorized, which means expenditures for the projects will be considered illegal.

"As you are well aware, there are legal and administrative consequences for unauthorized disbursements," he told Fernando in a letter sent to the latter last week.

Should Fernando refuse to submit the report, Binay said he will ask Metro mayors to withhold their contribution to the MMDA.

"As members of the Council who serves as the board of directors of the MMDA, we deserve to know how Fernando spent the agency’s funds, and whether these expenditures are for authorized projects," he said.

Local governments contribute five percent of their annual income to the MMDA and Makati City’s contribution last year was P230 million.

Among the projects Binay wants scrutinized are the installation of pink urinals and pink fences throughout Metro Manila, the building of pedestrian walkways, and the purchases of trucks, service vehicles and construction materials for other programs.