20 Pinamungajan workers not yet paid after burglary
Around 20 of the 65 municipal employees of Pinamungajan town have yet to receive their salaries for the previous month after the town lost cash amounting to P430,000 to robbers last Sunday.
Pinamungajan Mayor Glenn Baricuatro said the municipal government can use its supplemental funds to cover for the employees’ monthly pay for August.
But before doing that, the town treasurer must first be granted “relief of accountability” from the regional office of the Commission on Audit (COA) in the region, he said.
Without the go signal from COA, he said state auditors might note the move as a violation when it releases its annual report.
“It may take time but we assure the employees that they will get their salary. They earned that,” Baricuatro said.
But Provincial Auditor Lolita Mercedes of COA said the treasurer cannot be relieved automatically from accountability.
They have to comply with certain requirements before they can be free from liability.
“Before we can grant that, our field auditors will also have to investigate,” explained Mercedes.
The application must be directed to COA’s regional office and not to the agency’s provincial office.
Supporting documents such as police blotter and recommendations of their investigation need to be submitted.
Two persons should also pass an affidavit to clear them of the robbery. After completing the necessary paperwork, Mercedes said auditors will assess whether they can be held liable.
The treasurers of the four Cebu towns whose town halls were targetted in a string of robberies could be held liable by state auditors for the loss of government money.
Since the money was “under the custody of the treasury,” Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Provincial Director Jerome Gonzales said it follows that the liability falls on the treasurers.
Unidentified burglars also ran away with around P160,000 from the municipal halls of Sogod, Carmen and Compostela towns in north Cebu last week.
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