P26M fund moved to Vice Gov’s office

Incoming Cebu Provincial Board members will have to go through the Office of the Vice Governor to gain access to the remaining P26.8 million budget of the Local Assistance Fund (LAF) to finance projects and programs for their constituents.

This developed after the Commission on Audit (COA) in an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) questioned the LAF, which is like a local version of the pork barrel, which was then given directly to PB members.

The PB addressed this problem by including the realignment of the LAF budget to the Office of the Vice Governor in the Capitol’s P231 million Supplemental Budget (SB) 3, which the PB approved last Monday. (See separate story on Page 7.)

“It must be noted that funds of the same nature were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the premise that the system has violated the principle of separation of powers because it has allowed the legislators to wield, in varying gradations, non-oversight, post-enactment authority in vital areas of budget execution,” state auditors said in the AOM referring to the pork barrel system in Congress.

Audit Team Leader Lolita Mercedes and Supervising Auditor Josette Rodriguez said the province allocated P62 million in 2015 for the LAF for the Office of the Vice Governor and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan which they said violates Sections 465 and 468 of the Local Government Code which delineates the functions of the executive and legislative departments.

Under last year’s budget, the province appropriated P19 million as LAF under the office of Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and P3 million for each of the 14 PB members including Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) President Celestino Martinez III and Cebu Councilors League President Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca who both sit as ex-officio members of the PB.

During last Monday’s PB session, Magpale said the province will have to heed COA’s observations.

“We have to be compliant. It’s such a risk for the vice governor to assume responsibilities. But I can’t do otherwise. I will expect your utmost cooperation in the distribution of the LAF. I will have my own safety nets. Together with our three lawyers in the office, we will formulate guidelines as to the giving of the LAF,” Magpale said.

Provincial budget officer Danilo Rodas said COA agreed with the plan to centralize the LAF to the Vice Governor’s Office, which is part of the executive department.