Kalinga Mayor Suspended For Unauthorized Re-appropriation Of Funds

The mayor of the town of Rizal in Kalinga and two other local officials were suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman after they were found guilty of "simple misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service". The suspension order will be effective for one year.

In the 20-page resolution which was approved on June 26, 2018 by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, mayor Marcelo dela Cruz Jr., municipal accountant Rodelia Busacay, and municipal budget officer Delia Jacob were found guilty of the complaints lodged against them by Frank Wad-asen, Rogelio Lawad, Ponz Anthony Orodio, and Robert Echalar.

According to the Ombudsman, dela Cruz Jr., Busacay, and Jacob violated Article 322 and 344 of RA 7160 thus warranting administrative sanctions. However, the decision also stated that there were no elements of corruption in the case.

Article 322 and 344 of RA 7160 are as follows:

Article 322 - "Reversion of Unexpended Balances of Appropriations, Continuing Appropriations. - Unexpended balances of appropriations authorized in the annual appropriations ordinance shall revert to the unappropriated surplus of the general fund at the end of the fiscal year and shall not thereafter be available for the expenditure except by subsequent enactment. However, appropriations for capital outlays shall continue and remain valid until fully spent, reverted or the project is completed. Reversions of continuing appropriations shall not be allowed unless obligations therefor have been fully paid or otherwise settled.

The balances of continuing appropriations shall be reviewed as part of the annual budget preparation and the sanggunian concerned may approve, upon recommendation of the local chief executive, the reversion of funds no longer needed in connection with the activities funded by said continuing appropriations subject to the provisions of this Section."

Article 344 - "Certification, and Approval of, Vouchers. - No money shall be disbursed unless the local budget officer certifies to the existence of appropriation that has been legally made for the purpose, the local accountant has obligated said appropriation, and the local treasurer certifies to the availability of funds for the purpose. Vouchers and payrolls shall be certified to and approved by the head of the department or office who has administrative control of the fund concerned, as to validity, propriety, and legality of the claim involved. Except in cases of disbursements involving regularly recurring administrative expenses such as payrolls for regular or permanent employees, expenses for light, water, telephone and telegraph services, remittances to government creditor agencies such as GSIS, SSS, LDP, DBP, National Printing Office, Procurement Service of the DBM and others, approval of the disbursement voucher by the local chief executive himself shall be required whenever local funds are disbursed.

In cases of special or trust funds, disbursements shall be approved by the administrator of the fund.

In case of temporary absence or incapacity of the department head or chief of office, the officer next-in-rank shall automatically perform his function and he shall be fully responsible therefor."

Additional readings on the case:
1. Kalinga Town Mayor Suspended for 1 Year
2. Kalinga Mayor, 2 Others Suspended Anew

High School Student From Tabuk, Kalinga Wins 1st Prize In Essay-Writing Contest

A student from a secondary school in Tabuk, Kalinga won the top prize in an essay-writing competition organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Angel Joy Orpilla, 15 years old and a student from Tabuk City National High School bested 170 other students from all over the Philippines with her piece titled "Dumanay Meets Jica". Orpilla, along with the other winners in the writing tilt, received cash awards and certificates from the Japanese agency.

JICA conducted the writing competition to commemorate the 60th anniversary of economic cooperation between Japan and the Philippines. The contest was opened for Filipino students aged between 11 and 16. It carried the theme "The lives of people in the Philippines and Japanese ODA." The ODA is an acronym for official development assistance. The awarding ceremony was held last August 7 at the Sofitel Sunset Pavilion in Manila.

In his column for the Philippine Star, Alfred Yuson who was among the judges in the writing contest, admired Orpilla's piece saying, "I recall marveling at the way the first-prize winner had chosen to craft her essay, in dramatic fashion, as a narrative. It was what made Angel Joy K. Orpilla’s essay stand out. And what a pleasant surprise to learn that she was from the Cordilleras."

Angel Joy Orpilla. Photo by Alfred Yuson via the Philippine Star.

The other winners in the contest are Luis Antonio Valdez, Katherine Anne Del Rosario, Krystel Iris De Castro, Theresa Mae Villanueva, Apple Jean Dulig, Elaine Espirin, Millen Sidney Paderes, Claire Banganan and Khaleila Daine Luyaben. You can read all of the top ten entries at the JICA website.

Mayor In Kalinga Runs Over A Dog, Gets Shot By The Owner

James Edduba, the mayor of the town of Pasil in the province of Kalinga is currently recuperating in a hospital after being shot and wounded by an irate pet owner.

According to reports, the mayor and company were driving towards Tabuk City in the early evening of April 26 (Saturday) in a Ford pick-up truck when they hit a dog at the side of the road. This, according to the police, prompted the owner of the dog to shoot the mayor.

The shooting incident occurred at sitio Pinagan, barangay Lucog in Tabuk. Mayor Edduba was quickly rushed to the Tabuk Provincial Hospital and was later transferred to the St. Paul Hospital in Tuguegarao City in the nearby province of Cagayan. He is now in stable condition.

The identity of the suspect wasn't divulged by the police. Follow-up operations are ongoing for his immediate arrest. According to Superintendent Davy Vicente Lim-mong, spokesperson for the Cordillera regional police, a task force called Special Investigation Task Group Edduba has been formed to cover the case.

The task force is headed by Senior Superintendent Victor Wanchakan, the Director of the Kalinga police.

Father And Daughter In Kalinga Returns Canon Camera Worth Php18,000

Here's a story worth emulating. Last week, Eisenhower Jensen, a public utility multicab driver and his ten-year old daughter Shakira were on their way to market in Tabuk, Kalinga when they saw a purple backpack left by a passenger in the vehicle. Opening the bag, they found a wallet, a coin purse, some clothes and a digital camera worth Php18,000. As they can't find any way of identifying the owner of the bag, father and daughter brought it to two local radio stations the following day (Radyo ng Bayan and Radyo Natin).

The radio stations announced on air that whoever owns the missing bag can claim it from Jensen at the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) at the Tabuk City Hall where he currently works as a job order employee. He only drives his multicab during his spare hours.

Three men went to the POSO office to claim the bag but Jensen didn't give it to them as they were not able to identify the color of the bag. The real owner turned out to be Daphne Agtina Damian, a student at the Tabuk City National High School. Ms. Damian explained that she lost the bag thinking that she has left it in Bulanao.

Anyway, cheers to Jensen and his young daughter. Let us be inspired by their acts of kindness and honesty. As we often say to good people doing good deeds, "Matago-tago kayo."

On a side note, the three men who tried to claim the bag even though it wasn't theirs, shame on them. Just a quick question for experts on the law out there: Is there a crime attributable to claiming lost things that aren't yours? Because what these men tried to do is just sick. Here's a lost bag returned by honest people who found it and then here's a group of men trying to claim it even though it's not theirs. Talk about taking advantage of honest people.

Anyway, here's Jensen and his daughter Shakira. We salute you. Keep up the good work. The whole story of their act of honesty can be found here.

Photo Source: Tabuk City Facebook page