Liga ng mga Barangay head hit for deductions

Nine barangay chiefs in Gasan, Marinduque have accused Liga ng mga Barangay president James Marty Lim of illegally deducting P744 from their share of P10,744 from the Local Government Service Equalization Fund (LGSEF).

In an affidavit-complaint executed and signed last April 4 and received by the Marinduque provincial prosecutor on April 11, the barangay captains alleged that they were compelled to file charges against Lim for his failure to explain why the P744 should be deducted from the amount due them.

Last March 27, they said they signed a letter demanding an explanation for the deduction but Lim allegedly did not bother to reply within three days.

In their four-page complaint sworn before provincial prosecutor Edgardo Balquiedra, the chairmen said that "sometime in 2004, we barangay captains were informed that our respective barangays will be entitled to the LGSEF in the amount of P10,744 which will be released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM)."

"Our books show that our barangays did not receive P10,744 and instead… only P10,000," they complained.

"The withholding of the amount of P744 and the failure of James Marty Lim to explain the non-remittance to us clearly constitutes misappropriation of the said amount, which constitutes malversation of public funds, usurpation of authority and violation of Paragraph 1, Section 3 of Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act," they said.

The barangay captains told Balquiedra that Lim "has no legal right to retain the amount of P744 due our barangays" as borne out by the opinion of Guillermo Carague, chairman of the Commission on Audit.

According to the complainants, the Supreme Court has also ruled that the LGSEF should go directly to the barangays from the DBM and no local or national official is empowered to impose a lien or holdback on the same amount.

The complaining barangay captains were Edgardo Sanches of Dawis, Norie Salazar of Bacong-bacong, Apolonio Monsanto of Bachao Ilaya, Josefa Solito of Bachao Ibaba, Aida Sapungan of Antipolo, Reynaldo Solis of Cabugao, Artemio Sales of Bahi, Marianito Sena of Tabionan, and Gener Selda of Dili.