House cites Cagayan officials in contempt

Members of the House of Representatives public accounts and the suffrage and electoral reforms panel has cited in contempt five officials of the Cagayan province during the probe on the provincial government’s alleged illegal use of government funds during the 2022 election campaign period.
    Provincial accountant Jeanna Garma, treasurer Mila Mallonga, budget officer Reynald Raul Ramirez, agriculturist Dr. Pearlita Mabasa and social welfare officer Helen Donato did not show up in the probe amid the subpoena issued to them during the 21 May hearing.
    On Monday’s joint hearing on House Resolutions 145 and 146, lawmakers blasted the officials not only on their non-appearance but also over their “flimsy excuses.”
    The resolutions, filed by Cagayan Representative Jojo Lara, seek to delve deeper into the alleged anomalies during the May 2022 polls in Cagayan, in which the provincial was accused of illegally spending its expenditures and distributing cash and other forms of assistance to registered voters and barangays.
    Public accounts chairperson Joseph Stephen Paduano, in his opening speech, revealed that a P320 million was distributed to voters of Cagayan in the guise of P1,000 Covid-19 assistance during the campaign period.
    During the hearing, public accounts chairperson Joseph Stephen Paduano told the panel that the provincial administrator sent a letter to the committee on 4 August requesting that the 17 officials from Cagayan, including Governor Manuel Mamba, and the five subpoenaed be excused citing the lack of funds for transportation as one of the reasons.
    According to the unnamed provincial administrator, the Cagayan province, which had been placed under a state of calamity due to the devastation of typhoon “Egay,” continues to operate under a “reenacted budget.”

However, that did not sit well with several lawmakers, with Antipolo Representative Romeo Acop, who categorically thumbed down the claim of a limited fund that could not cover the travel expenses of the 17 officials who will spend at least four days in Metro Manila.

“The first reason — which was the state of calamity — is correct. I don’t know if the second reason — the reenacted budget — is true. Only the vice governor can answer that. And for the third reason that their funds are said to be insufficient, I wouldn’t believe this, Mr. Chair. Because if they were able to disburse P320 million one week before the election, I do not see any reason why they cannot fund for this purpose, Mr. Chair,” Acop said.

Cagayan Vice Governor Melvin Vargas, for his part, brushed off the notion that the reenacted budget was the reason from sending the officials.

“It’s true. We are operating on a reenacted budget. But that doesn’t mean that it is stopped and we are limited. That’s why it’s called reenacted because the service is continuing. It’s not a reason to cite that we are limited to with travel because they have been doing that in a few years,” Vargas told the panel.

Surigao del Norte Representative Ace Barbers, meanwhile, claimed that the officials of the provincial government were just making “flimsy excuses.” -- Edjen Oliquino