THE Commission on Audit had cautioned the Baybay City government about the lack of protection for 18 public buildings in the event of a calamity.
In a 2021 report released last April 25, government auditors reminded the city that local governments are required to insure public structures under RA No. 356 or the Property Insurance Law as amended by Presidential Decree No. 245.
Without such insurance, the audit team said the city government has exposed itself to the risk of not getting indemnification if any of these structures are damaged or destroyed by fire, earthquake, typhoon, and other similar calamities.
Records of the General Services Office showed only six buildings owned by the city were insured with the General Insurance Fund of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) but the coverage expired in July 2021.
Of the six buildings, only the City Hall building, Legislative Building, Public Market, and the City Medical Diagnostic and Dialysis Center were renewed up to July 29, 2022.
Insurance for the Baybay City Gym valued at P11.065 million and the City Library worth P37.89 million were no longer paid upon expiry.
Verification revealed 16 other city structures worth P59.47 million are also uninsured, including the P18.66 million Health Stations, P9.94 million slaughterhouse, P7.18 million Multi-Purpose Building, P5.65 million Multi-purpose Civic Center, and the P3.56 million evacuation center.
The rest were the Women’s Association Processing Center, Balay Silangan, Zone 5 multi-purpose hall, Farmers’ multipurpose shed, jackfruit processing center, women’s dormitory, and the bus terminals stall.
The audit team recommended that the city mayor direct the General Services Office to insure all the listed buildings and to include the cost in the proposed annual budget.
