Oliva: No police escort came to secure P635,000 in vault

Palma Batobalonos, president Cebu treasurers Association (right) sheds light over the Toledo City burglary together with Toledo City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva (left) and provincial treasurer Emmanuel Guial before the provincial board following the burglary at treasurer office in Toledo City that lost P6 million.(CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/ JOEL PINEDA)

Toledo City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said she authorized her staff to leave the P635,000 balance of a P6 million payroll for teachers and employees in a steel vault inside their office last Sept. 5.

In yesterday’s Provincial Board (PB) session, Oliva said her staff was unable to deposit the money to the bank for safekeeping, a day before the weekend burglary took place.

Oliva appeared before the PB to suggest ways to prevent a repeat of the string of burglaries that hit the treasury offices of five municipalities and Toledo city in Cebu province in a two-week span.

Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial and Cebu Treasurer’s Association (Cetra) President Palma Batobalonos also attended the session held at the Capitol’s Legislative Building yesterday afternoon.

A week before the burglary, Oliva said she issued an office memorandum “to deposit all cash on hand received from daily transactions not later than 4 p.m. to ensure the safekeeping of the money.”

Procedure

Oliva said another memorandum was issued last Sept. 4 prohibiting her staff from disbursing money for any transactions after 4 p.m.

“This procedure will also be followed to minimize the risk of liability of the collecting officer should any untoward incidents occur which may compromise the safety of the offices,” Oliva said, quoting the memo.

However, Oliva said her standing orders “were not followed” last Sept. 5 since their officers had to wait for the teachers, who can only claim their salaries after class hours at 5 p.m.

“This was observed (during the previous days) but not on that particular Friday because the teachers cannot come early,” she told the PB.

When she was informed of the situation, Oliva said she told her staff to contact the SWAT team in Toledo and the police department for security.

“But not a single police officer was assigned to the office. Ever since I assumed office, I have been requesting for the presence of the police in the garden city hall because it’s dark but there was none,” she said.

Oliva said they tried but failed to secure an agreement with the government bank in Toledo to allow them to deposit cash after working hours.

In the wake of the burglaries in municipal and city halls, PB Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez said they are looking into crafting an ordinance which will set guidelines on the handling of government money in treasury offices.

In a phone interview after yesterday’s session, Sanchez said there should be no cash left in treasury offices, especially during weekends.

“There needs to be a review of the policy governing cash on hand in treasury offices especially during weekends,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Golden rule

Oliva yesterday said she always emphasized in meetings with her staff the golden rule in treasury collections – that money should always be deposited in the bank.

“But when it comes to disbursements, we cannot prohibit them from leaving the excess cash in the vault inside the treasury,” she said.

Local government treasurers are under the Department of Finance (DOF), not the mayor or governor.
Guial, the provincial treasurer, said the responsibility of the safety of the vault rests with the treasurer.

He said under treasury guidelines the collecting officer should always turn over the money to the treasurer and “should always be placed in the vault” if it cannot be deposited in the bank.

After an inventory made by her staff, Oliva said the missing amount totaled P635,000, which is smaller than the P6 million stated in previous reports.

The P6 million refers to the amount to be disbursed.

There was P3 million for the honoraria of teachers from January to June while another P3 million was for the salaries of job order and casual employees.

“That was already confirmed because there are vouchers and payrolls that could back up the correctness of the amount,” she said.

Oliva yesterday repeated her call for heightened police visibility in the city hall.

She said she had long requested the Toledo City Council for a budget to purchase closed-circuit TV cameras (CCTV) but was not granted.

She said officials of the Commission on Audit (COA) have started their investigation in the town.

Related Stories:

Toledo City Municipal Treasurer’s Office robbed

Toledo treasurer: Staff failed to deposit P6 million in bank