A former president of the Central Negros Electric Cooperative is requesting for the liquidation of the P9 million fund released by the city to the Bacolod SEA Games Organizing Committee and also asking the city to conduct an investigation on the matter.

In his letter to the mayor and the Sangguniang Panlungsod dated Sept. 8, 2009, Vicente Sabornay said the city should make public, for the sake of transparency and accountability, the detailed appropriation disbursement and liquidation of the P9 million, allotted to the BASOC for the holding of the Southeast Asian Games in Bacolod in 2005.

He said they have learned that before the release of the fund, a memorandum of agreement was drawn between the city and BASOC.

On top of this, he said they were made to believe that another P2 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund, or pork barrel, was released to BASOC.

Sabornay said that after more than four years, the people of Bacolod are still in the dark as to how those public funds were appropriated, released and spent.

Bacolod Councilor Alex Paglumotan said he had authored a resolution in 2007 asking for an audit of the P9 million fund released by the city to BASOC.

However, until now he has not received a copy of the report from the Commission on Audit, he said. It is a good thing Sabornay came up with the request as a concerned taxpayer, he added.

Paglumotan said the P9 million was the city’s share in hosting the portions of the 23rd SEA Games held in Bacolod City.

Questions about the disbursements of BASOC funds came up again with the recent demand by the Commission on Audit for the liquidation of P50.5 million in funds that had been released to the BASOC, headed by Rep. Monico Puentevella, by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The PSC has threatened to file plunder charges against Puentevella after the COA reported that the funds had not been liquidated until now, four years after their release. COA regulations require that such releases should be liquidated 60 days after disbursement.

The COA report also said that several item purchased or constructions were overpriced, and no receipts had been submitted to support several of them.

It was also noted that the funds were deposited by Puentevella in his own personal account at the RCBC, with himself, his wife and son as signatories. Puentevella had been given a deadline to liquidate the funds or the charges will be filed against him.

Meanwhile, reports from Manila said yesterday that the PSC has denied the request of Puentevella for the extension of the deadline set for liquidating the SEAG funds.

PSC legal panel chief Sixto Brilliantes was quoted as saying that the filing of the case is only “a matter of time” since the period given to return the amount in their final notice had already lapsed.

Brilliantes also said that the PSC would be the one pressed if they do not pursue the case which they plan to formally file by early next week.*CGS

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