LGU’s failure to obtain GFH award fault of past admin

BOMBON, Camarines Sur --- The failure of the Bombon local governent unit (LGU) to obtain the 2019 Good Financial Housekeeping (GFH) award from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) was due to the fault of the past administration, the LGU’s spokesperson said recently.

Vicente Del Castillo, spokesperson of Bombon Mayor Maria Luisa “Embot” Angeles, told Bicol Mail that the present administration did not receive the GFH award due to the problematic financial records of the LGU during the administration of former Mayor Oscar Borja.

ASF DISINFECTANT. Personnel of the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry and Bombon police station inspect and spray with disinfectant passing vehicles along the town’s national road to prevent the spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF) to neighboring areas. PHOTO BY PAULO DS. PAPA

Mayor Angeles beat and regained from Borja the town’s top post during the May 2019 local elections. In the 2016 elections, it was Angeles who lost to Borja.

In 2015 and 2016 during Angeles’ previous term and leadership, Bombon town obtained the GFH award. Melody Relucio, DILG Camarines Sur provincial director agreed with Del Castillo’s statement behind Bombon’s failure to meet the GFH standards.

She said the recent financial documents of the local government unit of Bombon were posted in the fourth quarter of the year 2018 and first quarter of the year 2019, which were during Borja’s administration.

Relucio said the DILG uses two criteria to determine if LGUs pass the GFH: Most recent available Commission on Audit (COA) audit opinion is that LGU is ‘Unqualified or Qualified’ for 2017 or 2018; and compliance with the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP), which involves the posting of financial documents in three conspicuous places and in the FDP portal for all quarters of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 posting period.

Among the two cities and 35 towns in Camarines Sur, only the LGUs of Bombon, Presentacion, Garchitorena, Ocampo, and Caramoan failed to get the 2019 GFH award.

Nationwide, only 184 out of 1,706 or 10.8% of assessed LGUs failed to meet the GFH criteria.