ACTING Cebu City accountant Mark Salomon yesterday testified that the procedure for the release of government funds was followed when the city government distributed P20,000 calamity aid to officials and employees.
During the hearing at the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 office yesterday, Salomon said the process started with the administrative officers of each department preparing a certification listing the employees who were hired prior to the October 2013 earthquake.
The certifications were approved by each department head. Only those hired before the earthquake struck were qualified to receive the calamity aid, based on the ordinance.
Salomon, a lawyer, said the certifications were forwarded to the Human Resource Department Office (HRDO). Each department then prepared its own payroll, which was submitted to the budget office for the obligation request. The budget office certified that there was back-up appropriation for the calamity aid.
The obligation request, payrolls and certifications were then submitted to the accounting office for review.
After reviewing all the documents, Salomon said he forwarded these to the City Treasurer’s Office, which verified the availability of funds before submitting these to Mayor Michael Rama for approval.
Salomon was the third witness presented by the respondents led by Rama in the administrative case filed by lawyer Reymelio Delute. City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo will present a total of 100 witnesses.
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