Cuevas to stay as Cebu City treasurer

THE Department of Finance has ordered that all acting treasurers in towns and cities in the country, including controversial Cebu City Acting Treasurer Diwa Cuevas,  will stay in their posts until June 30.

The DOF directive was announced by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in a press conference Sunday to clarify the tenure of Cuevas as city treasurer.

Rama,  quoting the  DOF order, said the Finance department decided to keep acting treasurers in office until the end of June “in the exigencies of the service and to prevent disruption in the normal and routinary operations of the various Local Treasury Offices.”

As such, “ the designations of the OIC/ICO of the concerned Office of the Provincial/City/Municipal Treasurer of various LGUs . . . expiring between the period 10 January 2016 to 8 June 2016 . . . are hereby extended up to 30 June 2016,” read the DOF Department Personnel order No. 007-2016 signed by Secretary Cesar Purisima on Jan. 8.

Cuevas’s term was supposed to end by March 2. This prompted Rama to personally visit the DOF Central Office in Manila last Friday, ready with a folder of documents requesting Purisima to extend again Cuevas’s term.

Rama is openly fighting  to retain Cuevas as city treasurer in the wake of the several administrative cases that have been lodged against her by former City Mayor Tomas Osmeña over alleged mismanagement of city’s finances, as shown by the Commission on Audit’s (COA) report in 2012 which raised a lot of questions on how the city’s funds were handled, including the failure to collect unliquidated cash advances by purchasing officers amounting to  P8.25  million.

But Rama said the allegations against Cuevas were unfounded. He said he will continue to recommend that she will be made the permanent treasurer of Cebu City.

“I haven’t seen any reason why she should not be promoted. She is working so hard,” he said.

Rama said that he was not able to personally meet Purisima when he was at the DOF last Friday but got a copy of the order from a staff of the secretary.

The mayor said that before he got the copy of the order, he did not know that all acting treasurers were supposed to remain in office until the end of June. He said

Purisima’s staff was also surprised that the Cebu City mayor did not get a copy of the order.

Purisima, in his order,  cited Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution No. 10030, passed on Dec. 22, 2015, which banned the transfer or movement of personnel from Jan. 10, the start of the campaign period for the May 9 national and local elections,  until June 8, 2016, or after the newly elected officials shall have assumed office.

The same order included a list of all the acting treasurers and assistant treasurers who are covered by the term extension.  Cuevas’s name was included in the list for Central Visayas (Region 7).