City Mayor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap is calling for a special audit of all financial transactions of the past administration of mayor Dan Neri Lim which according to city hall watchers were shrouded with a string of irregularities. The special audit request was addressed to Commission on Audit Assistant Regional Director Alice Malquisto and City Auditor Jeremiah Lagunda when they called on Mayor Yap in his office last week. Although it was only a verbal request, Mayor Yap will make a formal letter calling for a special audit of past transactions to COA Regional Director Sabiniano Cabatuan. It was during the same courtesy call that the two COA officials restrained Mayor Yap from using the two garbage compactors pending submission of purchase papers. Due to insistent public demand, Mayor Yap almost gave in to representations from irate city residents arising from the worsening garbage problem in this city.

Just as the mayor was ready to augment the present garbage collection capability with the two new compactors when stopped by COA not to use the trucks not until all the supporting documents like their registration papers are made available by their supplier. The city has only three serviceable garbage trucks. Bought at P8.3 million each, the new compactors were delivered by JVF Commercial Development Support Services through a certain Cipriano Fruto, Jr., general manager. Speaking of alleged irregularities, Mayor Yap, on the occasion of his first State of the City Address last Friday, mentioned of “grim realities” of the past administration even as he called for a united front among city officials to deal with the situation faced by the city leadership.  During his speech, Yap disclosed that for the last 9 years under former mayor Lim, the city’s treasury has been “profusely bleeding”, a dilemma which the new city chief executive had to deal with on his first nine days in office. Yap bared that the city has been losing a whopping P2-million every year from unremitted and illegally collected fees.

 According to the mayor, the amount is just a “conservative estimate” based on initial accounting of unremitted collections from the City Central Market and Integrated Bus Terminal where various stalls are operating without business permits, from vendors, parking fees for public utility vehicles both inside and outside the terminal, including those in Cogon and Manga Markets.  Receiving reports that the illegal collection of fees is still continuing, allegedly perpetrated by personalities identified with the former mayor, Yap warned vendors, businessmen and PUV drivers to report these unscrupulous persons directly to his mobile hotline or the City Police.  Yap said a technical working group has been tasked to conduct a “due diligence audit” on all transactions entered into by city officials and employees.  “Rest assured, whatever the results will be, in fulfillment of my advocacy for transparency, such audit results will be made public,” he stressed.  Other than the predicament on finances, Yap said he was also shocked to learn on his first few days in office that executive and legislative offices at City Hall were seemingly “looted” of equipment and supplies.

Speaking in front of a packed session hall of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Yap said he has created a task force, headed by the City Treasurer that would check on the operations of all economic enterprise units of the city, which includes the markets and terminal, slaughterhouse, motor pool and the city waterworks. “These enterprises were established for two primary reasons of public service and as a means of income generation. Both purposes are interconnected, we cannot effectively and efficiently serve the people without the capacity to fund our programs and activities,” he said. Yap reported that he has ordered the City Engineer to temporarily patch up potholes of city roads while awaiting its concreting and asphalting.  On the worsening garbage collection and disposal problem, Yap assured that this “will soon come to an end” with the arrival of two new garbage compactors that are already being deployed while he bares plans to purchase additional garbage collection trucks to augment the four existing and operational ones.