Disbursements were in order – ABC

CEBU, Philippines - In response to an audit observation memorandum against them, the Cebu City Association of Barangay Council (ABC) answered the concerns point by point.

In a statement, ABC defended its part on some procedural questions particularly matters concerning budget.

The audit observation earlier said that the ABC 2012 was not supported by a board resolution.

The association corrected this by saying that in October 2011, the new ABC board of directors approved and passed Board Resolution No. 018-10-10-11 or the ABC Budget CY 2012 amounting to P7,719,949.

This was accordingly done during the financial budget summit and that the submission was only delayed.

On the premise of the incorrect practice of having an administrative staff take the role of a treasurer, they said that while this has been the practice over the years, the board has decided to have a treasurer to fully function as such.

“This was the usual practice of the ABC ever since the time of his predecessors…  But the board decided this year 2013 to pass, formulate and approve Board Resolution No. 043-04-10-13 formally designating/delegating some of the functions of the ABC Treasurer to Mr. Cris Amper and Liza Lim. This is one way to unburden the Treasurer on his task/function vis-à-vis with his other task in the barangay Punong Barangay officially,” the statement read.

The third issue that they clarified was on their supposed violation of RA 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act when it bought equipment, supplies and materials.

The ABC stressed that all their purchases are properly supported with necessary documents but explained that they are still in the process of adjusting to the New Government Accounting System (NGAS) which was supposed to be implemented.

Lastly, the association denied the report that they have been releasing salaries without proper Daily Time Records and Weekly Accomplishment Report as references.

 â€œThe ABC is very strict in monitoring the daily time of the staff in fact the ABC is currently using bio-metrics,” the statement continued.  (FREEMAN)