• THERESA MAE DULMAN
The processing of Barangay Villamonte’s P300,000 financial assistance for the Electric MassKara float competition was not singled out or delayed, as its voucher was processed with those of barangays 12, 14, 21, and Tangub, secretary to the mayor, Atty. Jose Marty Go, said Oct. 20.
Go clarified that the city followed a uniform, step-by-step timeline for all batch applicants.
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod ratified the memoranda of agreement for the financial assistance to barangays Villamonte and Tangub Sept. 30, while the subsidy MOA for barangays 12, 19, 14, 21 and 17 were ratified Sept. 23.
Following the completion of requirements by participating electric float barangays Oct. 6, Villamonte’s voucher moved through the standard administrative flow together with the four other barangays, Go said.
The city said the process started Oct. 7 with the initial transmission to the Budget Office, then the vouchers moved through accounting pre-audit, actual expense posting, and executive signature approvals before being sent to the cashier’s office Oct. 12, culminating in the release of all checks on Oct. 13.
“Efforts were made to release it right away. To be fair, the checks were actually released at the same time for all the barangays that participated in the MassKara float competition,” Go said.
He said that while Villamonte and four other barangays cleared their requirements together, barangays 17 and 19 were unable to join the batch processing due to pending liquidations, requiring them to instead claim reimbursement later.
He noted that all street dance and electric float participants had been urged by the Gugma Foundation as early as September to submit their documents promptly to avoid delays.
“To be honest, it really depends on how early our barangays submit their requirements, because we can’t process the vouchers if the documents coming from them aren’t complete,” he added.
Villamonte’s Electric MassKara float was later disqualified by the organizers due to poor quality.
Punong barangay Rommel Flores had said that miscommunication and delayed city subsidy were reasons for the disqualified float entry.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, meanwhile, said he is pushing for an investigation into the incident, as it involves public funds. ||
