The System

Hole of Justice

By Peter G. Jimenea

The System 

The collusion of public officials to pounce of government coffers for every chance they get is what irked me about. I know they are once good people propelled by honest desire to serve but for having stayed long in government office they eventually yield to temptation of greed.

If we surf the Internet for records of (COA), this country has a lot of government employees dismissed in service. In RTC, Passi City we have one for P355,896.00 cash shortage and onother from the Treasurer’s Office for a P890,784.70 shortage in cash positioon.

A Notice of Disallowance was also issued to Passi City for excess payment of hare to Home Development Mutual Fund. The amount is P2,300,806.57. My God, the internet tells us this is from the national to the local government down to the barangay level. And it is now a “the system.”

The Iloilo Province which operates in reenacted budget in 2009, was also issued a Notice of Disallowance for its financial assistance to health workers of P23,298,000 through supplemental budget without legal basis. What a mess in million.

A Notice of Disallowance was again issued to the Iloilo Provincial government on the same year for its excessive extra cash gift to employees in excess of the PS Cap. This amount was P71,081,500.00 of the taxpayers’ money abused by officials. And we are only confined here in one-tenth of the mess in Iloilo Province.

A COA’s Notice of Suspension for a project means the concerned official involved is given an ample time to correct the discrepancies. But a Notice of Disallowance implies the concerned official must shoulder personally the amount involved after failing to fix the glitches.

However, in Notice of Disallowance involving official in custody of money, any shortage in cash position is immediately forwarded to the Ombudsman Office for further investigation and if affirmed, the filing of cases. On how many were already dismissed from service, we have yet to know!

What’s  funny is the procurement of Digital Autoclave Sterilizer for Don Valerio Palmares Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Passi City at P1,159,280.00 paid by the Iloilo Provincial government. We discovered the unit is defective and not in accordance with the specification.

But through collusion of BAC members and the bidders, despite the residual imperfection, their will was done. In fairness also to former governor Niel Tupas, Sr., he is not part of this dealing of the undesirable underlings he had been tapping.

When I exposed this grossly overpriced deal in a local newspaper, Gov. Tupas reprimanded State Auditor Haydee Pasuelo why the records got to my possession. The lady auditor said she knew nothing about me and denied she leaked the information.

So she tried to reach for me until she got my number. True, the lady-auditor has nothing to do with my column. She failed to know that the greatest risk of any organization like the Iloilo Provincial Capitol BAC is not from outside but from within.

How would I know of the transaction without a contact from the inside? Perhaps the informant trusted me more than anybody else and that explains it. Lately, Mrs. Pasuelo informed me that she attached all my articles to her folder in support of her bid for the selection of the best COA auditor of the year. She bagged the top national award with prize given personally by Pres. Noynoy Aquino.

She told me I deserved to be given an award too, for my efforts to expose corruption in the government. I said it is alright for me as long as my efforts bear fruits. In fact, knowing I have helped her to the top is already something to crow about.

But as I wrote earlier, it is now difficult to separate the chaff from the grain. Good government servants are only good at the start of their career but for how long? To fight the system is creating more enemies and at sundown, they may find themselves the only poor in a room full of rich colleagues.

As what Obispo Benjie of FB said; “for the evil to triumph is for the good man to stand and do nothing.” But we still have no guarantee that these good men will remain firm and cannot be swallowed by “the system.”