WHERE IS the P5-million counterpart fund of the city government to the Botika sa Katawhan? The same question is running through the minds of city lawmakers as they try to unravel the mystery behind the missing funds which had been appropriated and released during the previous city administration of Mayor Dan Lim.  In a motion filed by City Councilor Alexander Lim during the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) session last Friday, an inquiry into the handling of funds intended for the Botika sa Katawhan was again brought out after a previous inquiry made on Botika administrator Mariano Uy failed to uncover where the P5-million was spent and who disbursed the money.  Uy vehemently denied any wrongdoing saying he never got hold of a single centavo from City Hall’s seed money to the Botika project of P1-million released in July 2006 and the subsequent P4-million expended as additional endowment fund to sustain the free medicines program.

Councilor Lim however said, “There has to be a paper trail. But the problem is that people are getting used to being lied about transactions in City Hall during the past administration. Sums of money cannot be accounted for because even those responsible to handle the release of these funds, monitor and account for it are also accustomed to covering up their irregularities. This vicious cycle has to stop.”  In a cursory check made by the city council, City Councilor Bebiano Inting who is chairman of the SP Committee on Appropriation, said the amounts have been reflected in the statement of expenditures of the city during the previous administration. Inting clarified that the preceding Sanggunian, of which he was also a member of the appropriation committee, attempted to scrutinize how the funds were utilized but failed to finish their investigation as their term drew to a close.

Inting likewise mentioned having encountered obstacles during their inquiry as most city officials they call to testify were gagged by the former city mayor. During last Friday’s SP session, lawmakers agreed to create a joint-committee to investigate the matter. The joint panel is composed of the members of the Committee on Public Accountability and Investigation chaired by Councilor Lim, the Committee on Appropriation chaired by Councilor Inting and the Committee on Health which is chaired by City Councilor Joseph Bompat. According to Lim, they have requested the City Treasurer and City Accountant to appear before the panel hearings set on August 26. Lim added that under existing laws, only the treasurer or the designated disbursing officer can handle the release of funds, but who signed the receipt of the money is also supposed to be known on public records. Based on the statement of expenditures, the P5-million was clearly withdrawn using the name of the Botika sa Katawhan.

 Lim has called on City Mayor John Geesnell Yap to direct the responsible officers to produce records pertaining to the fund releases. “People must be held accountable for their actions. If these funds were realigned, misused or pocketed, then whoever is responsible should be held liable,” Councilor Lim stressed. “When an amount is allocated for a specific purpose and it was not used for that purpose, then there is a clear case of malversation of public funds,” Lim concluded.