2k fine for former Del Carmen dad
By J.Lo
Review of Commission on Audit (COA) annual audit reports (AARs) on Davao City showed total of P2.697 billion in confidential expenses from 2016 to 2022, way higher than CF spending of other larger and wealthier local government units (LGUs) such as Cebu City, Quezon City, Manila and Makati City during same period.
Davao City appears to be biggest spender of confidential funds among country's cities and municipalities between 2016 and 2022 when it was still under mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, now Vice President, COA records showed.
COA report showed Davao City's confidential expenses more than doubled after Duterte assumed mayoralty post from her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Davao City's confidential expenses soared to P293 million in 2017 during first full term of younger Duterte as mayor, increase of 103.5 percent from P144 million in 2016.
Duterte officially assumed office as Davao City mayor on June 30, 2016. City's confidential expenses ballooned further to P420 million in 2018, then to P460 million yearly from 2019 to 2022.
Her brother Sebastian succeeded her as Davao City mayor after May 9, 2022 elections, when she won as vice president.
Review of COA report on Cebu City, considered wealthiest city in Visayas region, showed that it only incurred total of P13.3 million in CF expenses in past seven years.
Records showed Cebu City had no CF spending in 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. It incurred P504,834.15 in confidential expenses in 2017, P5.42 million in 2021 and P7.38 million as "payment for confidential, intelligence and extraordinary expenses" in 2022.
Quezon City, hailed as country's richest city since 2020, had total of P435 million in CF expenses in past seven years.
Audit records showed Quezon City had zero CF expenses in 2016 and 2017, P80 million in 2018 and in 2019, P100 million in 2020 and 2021 and P75 million in 2022.
Makati City, second richest city in the country, had total of P1.249 billion in CF expenses for same comparative years.
From zero confidential expenses in 2016, Makati City incurred P186.666 million in CF expenses in 2017, P225 million in 2018, P180 million in 2019, P177.75 million in 2020 and P240 million both in 2021 and 2022.
Country's third richest city, Manila, meanwhile, had total of P477.5 million in CF expenses and P77.48 million in intelligence expenses from 2016 to 2022.
Audit record showed it had no CF expenses in 2016 and 2017, although it incurred P52.5 million in intelligence fund expenses in 2017.
In 2018, Manila had P53.75 million in confidential expenses and P24.98 million in intelligence expenses.
It incurred P78.75 million in confidential expenses in 2019, P105 million in 2020 and P120 million in 2021 and 2022. No intelligence expenses were recorded in these years.
COA's AARs on local government units (LGUs) and national government agencies (NGAs) can be downloaded from COA website.
Confidential expenses were included in breakdown of LGU's annual Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE). MOOE breakdown can be found under Notes to Financial Statement section of COA's AARs.
It was not stated in audit reports where exactly LGUs sourced their confidential expenses.
Meanwhile, former mayor of Del Carmen in Surigao del Norte was fined measly P2,000 for his two criminal cases stemmed from his failure to liquidate cash advances totaling P3 million in 2010, drawn from municipal government's intelligence funds.
At hearing on Sept. 25,2023, Sandiganbayan Fourth Division allowed former Del Carmen mayor Constantino Navarro IV to plead guilty to two counts of lesser offense of violation of Presidential Decree (PD) 1445 or Government Auditing Code in exchange for dropping of two counts of heavier offense of Failure to Render Accounts under Article 218 of Revised Penal Code.
Court noted prosecution panel of Office of the Ombudsman, on behalf of offended party, Del Carmen municipal government, gave its consent to Navarro's request to plead guilty to lesser offense.
Court also noted confirmed by prosecution, Navarro had already "settled" his civil liability with municipal government. Amount of civil liability was not stated in the decision.
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