ADVOCACY GROUP LAMENTS TOWN OFFICIALS ‘UNSATISFACTORY’ ANSWERS DURING HOUSE PROBE

AN advocacy group lamented what it described as “unsatisfactory” the answers of two local officials in a town in Batangas during a recent hearing of the House Committee on Public Accounts.

The People’s Coalition Against Crime and Corruption Group (PCACCG) said the explanations provided by Mataas na Kahoy Mayor Janet Ilagan and husband Vice Mayor Jay Ilagan  during the committee hearing left more questions than answers.

“The couple failed to answer many questions satisfactorily,” said PCACCG member Antonio Alabata, who attended the hearing on House Resolution 2102 by the committee chaired by Abang Lingkod Partylist Rep. Joseph Paduano over the alleged misuse of public funds and irregularities in the municipal operations.

Alabata said that the Ilagans failed to implement projects over a four-year period.

“Projects supposedly up for implementations in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 were never carried out,” he said.

“Mayor Ilagan herself admitted that only seven of their 11 projects were fully completed. Their explanations to the committee that the practices are also being done by other local government units are not acceptable,” he added.

The PCACCG filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman last December accusing the Ilagans of violating the anti-graft laws, gross negligence, grave misconduct, and the Government Procurement Reform Act.

The complaint alleged various irregularities in the town’s operations, including the cash deficit the municipality incurred in 2021 worth more than P5 million which the group said affected the full settlement of the municipality’s current liabilities totaling P47,141,799.11.

It also alleges deficiencies in Covid-19-related disbursements worth P7,771,859.43.

The PCACCG also mentioned in their complaint the purchase of a lot without the required certification from the Department of Agriculture (DA). The land was previously agricultural.

Paduano and Surigao del Sur 1^st district Rep. Romeo Momo earlier asked the Commission on Audit (COA) to conduct an audit of the projects of the local government unit.

The Committee is conducting an investigation in aid of legislation to uphold transparency and accountability and to assess if amendments to procurement and auditing laws are needed to prevent future abuses. 

It is also mandated to investigate and deliberate matters directly and principally relating to the examination and scrutiny of audit reports  on the performance of all government agencies to determine their adherence to or compliance with the law.