JVR hands off on salaries of dep’t heads

TALISAY City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes said he will leave it up to the City Treasurer’s Office and the City Accountant’s Office to implement his order to withhold the salaries of 11 City Hall department heads, an employee and a city councilor.

The department heads, who included City Accountant Viluzminda Villarante, were ordered to refund the P29.4 million used to buy computers and fertilizers over a decade ago that was disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA).

De los Reyes said while he will sign the Feb. 29 payroll, it is up to City Treasurer Emma Macuto to decide whether or not to withhold the salaries of these officials and employee.

“Kung karon magsweldo (If they will receive their salary), we will report to COA that they are not following their order,” he said.

“The payroll is released as a whole and not individually . . . I will sign it because if I won’t, those job orders and regular employees who were not involved will be sacrificed. I will sign and it will be up to the treasurer if they will release the salaries of the involved or not,” he said.

The mayor said he would no longer issue a second demand letter to them and will leave COA to act on it.

Macuto’s staff said she is in Manila attending a seminar until Friday this week.

Villarante said she will not follow the memorandum and instead wait on the petition they filed at the Supreme Court (SC) along with others involved.

“If we consented to have our salaries deducted, its already an admission of guilt,” she said.

About P20 million went to pay Talisay City Hall’s computerization project in 2004 and the purchase of fertilizers for farmers in 2007.

Mary Jane Enrile, head of Talisay City Hall’s business and licensing office and City Engineer Audie Bacasmas said they received some computers in 2007 but these units bogged down in 2010.