Juday Versus Iday Continues
By Mortz C. Ortigoza
LINGAYEN – “Where did
those funds go?” A lady councilor here posed to the media where the mayor
and her staff put the One Million Forty Thousand One Hundred Sixty Five Pesos appropriation
for two years and seven months on the two positions that have not been filled
up after they were created in 2015.
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| DISSENT - From left Stalwart Councilor Juday Vargas and SGLG Awardee Mayor Iday Castaneda. Vargas questions the Mayor on the whereabouts of the million pesos funds. |
Councilor Judy “Juday” Vargas cited a document given to
this paper that the two positions of Mechanic III and Supply Officer II have a
yearly budget of P165, 656.98 and P236,987.92, respectively, or a total of P1,040, 165.00 for two years and seven
months as of press time for salaries, allowances, and others.
Both Municipal Accountant Nelson Gumapos and Human Resources
Chief Dindo Ungson told this paper that the unfilled positions were converted
by the Administration of Mayor Josefina “Iday’ Castaneda to a supplemental
budget and eventually funneled as savings of the local government unit (LGU)
here.
Vargas said the practices of Castaneda and her staff had
even been questioned by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) in a letter
sent to the LGU when the Board reviewed the 2015 Annual Appropriation Budget
(AAB).
“That the ordinance
creating the positions of Supply Officer III, Salary Grade 14 and Mechanic III
Salary Grade 9 under the Office of the Mayor shall be submitted,”
exhortation through a letter by the officers of the Local Finance Committee
(LFC) of the provincial government to the SB members in January 2015.
An emphatic Councilor Vargas, the lone opposition stalwart
at the SB, criticized the practice and wisdom of the Castaneda Administration despite
the reminder of the LFC to pass a specific ordinance and not just insert the
two positions in the AAB.
“When you make a
position what do you need? You need an ordinance, you need budget for a position ano ang
nangyari nauna ang budget kaysa iyong ordinance. Hinde lang iyon, ang masaklap 2015
pa bina-budgetan. Isipin mo iyan naka budget na siya wala namang ordinansa,” Vargas
told this paper.
In the SB hearing last June 20, 2017, Vargas vigorously
argued with Human Resources Chief Ungson and Municipal Accountant Gumapas on the
sense of the creation of the two controversial positions by legislating them
into a specific ordinance and sneaked them into the AAB.
Gumapos and Ungson were unfazed with the interpretation of
the solon but insisted that there are two ways in the creation of a position
through insertion at the AAB or legislation of the specific ordinance.
The lawmaker however disagreed that an Annual Appropriation
Budget was not the proper venue to create the post as it only showed in general
terms how the funds of this Capital Town were delegated.
“If that is the case
and maybe then sana hinde na nila ginagawa iyong creation ng position because
mas madali lang pala ang process na lapitan lang kayo at sabihin ko na ito po
iyong magandang ordinansa, i-budgetan po natin, iyong pag create ng position eh
di hinde na dadaan dito we will not know the duties and functions, ano ang
qualifications nila? Saan sila susuweldo? Anong office ang mga iyan? Those are
the reasons why we need the ordinance for the creation of the office because we
will scrutinize also one by one cause this is the money of the people, tax
payers. Do we really need? What is his task? Saang office sila babagsak? That
is the difference of the creation of an ordinance for those two positions and
the difference of the appropriation ordinance because appropriation ordinance,
in my understanding is for the budget, for the funds that we have received, may
IRA tayo, paano iyong sources natin, dito sa atin di ba? Saan natin dadalhin? ”
she argued.
In the transcript of the June 20 hearing Vargas accused the
executive department of hiding the more than one million pesos allocation for the unfilled positions.
“I checked my files
2014 and it was not included in the budget, it was 2015 that was included in
the budget followed by 2016 and then followed again by 2017 and I also asked
the local finance committee before. What are you doing with these funds? Dahil
wala naman tayong nakapasok doon sa 2015 wala namang nakapasok sa 2016 wala
naman tayong na hire sa 2017 wala din tayong na hire, what we are doing to the
budget and you told me and you will saying mag supplemental budget tapos
i-reallign natin. So, if this is the process that we do from my eyes again I
will repeat what I said before it might be harsh and I am sorry but in my
eyes you are hiding the funds in these two positions and then we revert, we
realign and using again for another purposes”.
Because of the persistence of Vargas, the Executive
Department requested the SB to pass a specific ordinance this year on the
creations of the two positions.
Mayor Castaneda told this paper earlier that the reason why the
mechanic was not hired because of the absence of the motor pool that will house
him.
“Wala pang motor pool kaya iyong pang sueldo sa
mechanic nilagay sa savings. Tapos iyong savings iyon inilagay sa supplemental
(budget),” she
stressed.
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