Release income estimates, Labella tells finance execs

CEBU City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella called on the City Accountant’s Office to release the estimates of income to the city’s barangay officials so they can prepare for the annual budget for their respective barangays next year.

He made the appeal in a letter to City Accountant Arlene Rentuza and City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo in response to requests for assistance from barangay officials allied with Team Rama.

The barangay officials were required to submit promissory notes before being issued their estimates of income to pay back the allowances they received from the previous administration that were disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) this year.

“We humbly appeal that the certificate of estimates of income be timely released to the requesting barangay officials and that the same be issued without any condition as such is the mandate given by the Local Government Code (LGC),” read Labella’s letter to Rentuza and Camarillo.

Labella explained in his letter that the COA disallowance is under appeal at the regional COA office.

“The submission of a promissory note obligating the barangay officials concerned to pay back the incentives given to them is therefore effectively an abandonment of the appeal they filed,” Labella said.

Labella said under Section 330 of the Local Government Code, the barangay treasurer should submit to the barangay chairperson on or before September 15 every year a statement covering the estimates of income and expenditures for the following year.

This should be issued by the city treasurer. Labella also cited Section 271 of the Code which also states that the shares of the barangays from the city must be released directly to the barangay treasurers without any obligations.

Rentuza earlier confirmed that her office has required the promissory notes since the barangay officials can’t pay back the disallowed incentives outright.

She said it’s standard procedure in their office to require any person to settle any obligation to pay once they’re issued notices of suspension or disallowance by COA.

“When the barangay officials sought for a clearance from our office, we asked them to settle but since they cannot do it outright, we allow them to make the pro-note so we can proceed in issuing them the clearance,” Rentuza said.

Earlier this year, state auditors disallowed P28.6 million in cash incentives for barangay officials given by the city last year, saying it was charged to the wrong account.