By Manuel ‘Boy’ Mejorada

Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog likes to be known as a thoughtful leader.

And he has a particularly soft heart for senior citizens – he makes it a point to send them birthday cakes to show he remembers important occasions.

The only problem is that Mabilog had reimbursed his cake purchases from the city government. Worse, he apparently overcharges the city government by several folds notwithstanding the fact that it is not allowed.

This scandalous misuse of public funds came to the surface just last week in the Annual Audit Report (AAR) of the Commission on Audit (COA) for the year 2010.

Out of the P3,822,803.18 in representation expenses charged by Mabilog, and his predecessor, Jerry Treñas, for the fiscal year, only a little over five percent met the stringent requirements for this account spelled out in the Local Government Code and the COA circular governing its use.

The COA chastised the city government for spending 94.62 percent of the total representation expenses for what it described as “inappropriate” items that are “inconsistent” with the purposes set by law.

Under Section 325 (h) of Republic Act 7160, local chief executives are entitled to utilize two percent of the real property tax collections for the next preceding year as “discretionary, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses.”

But the COA has imposed strict guidelines on its utilization.

Generally, expenditures under Section 325 (h) of RA 7160 are allowed only for the following:

•    Meetings, seminars, and conferences;

•    Official entertainments;

•    Public relations;

•    Educational, athletic and cultural activities;

•    Subscriptions to professional technical journals and informative magazines, library books, and materials;

•    Contributions to civic and charitable institutions;

•    Membership in government associations, national professional organizations duly accredited by the Professional Regulations Commission and in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines;

•   Other similar expenses not supported by the regular budget allocation.

Birthday cakes, funeral wreaths, and lechon donations do not fall under the guidelines, the COA report said.

More than that, the birthday cakes Mabilog gave out during the three-month period appear to be grossly overpriced.

The cakes were reported as costing as much as P4,800 each based on the reimbursement claims made by both officials.

A canvass undertaken by The News Today show small cakes are sold in the market for only P180 to P500 per piece, while flower arrangements range from P350 to P1,000 each.

All in all, Mabilog gave away P106,690 worth of birthday cakes in the months of October, November, and December 2010, with P91,435 of the cake purchases made in a 10-day period starting Dec. 31, 2010.

Mabilog and Treñas, also claimed for reimbursement for flowers for deceased constituents, each costing as much as P5,000 for a bouquet, as well as donations of “lechon” to parties and other occasions.

The total expenditures for flowers for the entire year reached P531,900.

Based on this current price ranges, the reimbursement claims of Mabilog and Trenas were padded by as much as 1,000 percent.

The COA said these expenses were improper, but did not categorically state whether these are being disallowed.

In addition, many other items such as travelling expenses (P566,857.00), office supplies, and printing of posters and calendars (P578,834.00) are supposed to be charged to specific accounts under MOOE, not to representation expenses.

One particular item that raised eyebrows was the printing of 50 business cards for P4,500.

Mabilog denied there was any wrongdoing on his part (See sidebar).

This revelation is yet another “smoking gun” of the “shamelessly, profligate corruption” now taking place in the city government, Iloilo Press Club president Rommel Ynion said.

“It seems nothing is spared from the corruption,” Ynion remarked upon reading the report. “Not only have they (Mabilog and Treñas) charged obviously personal expenses for birthday gifts and funeral wakes to the taxpayers but also overpriced them as well.”

Ynion said the charges are not only “inappropriate” but “immoral” as well.

“By getting the city government to pay for the cakes, Mabilog made himself look good to the senior citizens at the expense of the ordinary taxpayers,” Ynion said.

This is a personal gesture of thoughtfulness that is not related to governance, he added.

Ynion said he was “shocked” that Mabilog would pad the prices of the birthday cakes.

“This is just too much,” he said. He described this “petty thievery” as manifestation of a “grand larceny that doesn’t discriminate between small and large amounts of public funds.”

He added “there is every indication the charges for office supplies and services worth P578,834.48 is a classic conversion of goods to cash” that is one of the most common forms of graft.*