Mayor Apolinaria Jasmine Balistoy is in the offensive mood this time lashing back at his vice mayor for alleged indiscretions in the discharge of official function in the second top elected position in the town. The two ran in the same ticket in the last elections until their falling out resulting in the filing of charges and counter charges. After a long lull, the lady mayor broke her silence by granting an interview. She is also slated to appear tomorrow morning during the highly-rated program “Cuentas Claras” with the Post publisher as the main anchor. Her presence in tomorrow’s radio program was brokered by City Mayor Dan Neri Lim who is Balistoy’s close political ally. One issue the mayor has articulated in this press release was the way V-Mayor Danilo Montero facilitated the town’s monetization. It came as a surprise to Mayor Balistoy that Vice-Mayor Montero sought the approval of the COA auditor on the monetization ordinance that the Sangguniang Bayan passed last Monday, instead of bringing it to her.

The COA auditor allegedly commented that the ordinance needed amendment. “They did not go to the mayor where the supplemental budget should be revised. Instead they went to the auditor,” according to a source at the Mayor’s office. The source said the auditor had been supplying the vice mayor with documents that can be used against the mayor. In fact, Montero has always been seen together with the auditor and has been visiting the COA office even after office hours. The mayor’s camp also complained why the auditor is making it difficult for the executive department to implement the usual projects. According to a member of the town’s Bids and Awards Committee, they had posted the school bags project for bidding in January yet already with budget, but the COA auditor withheld the documents. The BAC member issued the statement as an explanation to the complaints of some constituents why the municipality has not distributed school bags this school year, unlike in the past nine years.

The auditor allegedly requires the items that the municipality needs to purchase to be supplied by her preferred suppliers, otherwise the documents will not be released. The auditor had also alleged earlier that water pumps for the municipality were not delivered but were paid. This was contrary to the report of the regional auditor which said that all water pumps had been accounted for. In earlier pronouncements, V-Mayor Montero twitted the mayor of alleged transactions including falsification of public documents, nepotism, among others. V-Mayor Montero was invited in the same radio program tomorrow to confront the lady mayor of alleged infractions and vice versa. The vice mayor confirmed his attendance in tomorrow’s interview between two warring parties in Cortes.