THE municipal government of Hinobaan in Negros Occidental posted a P21.13 million deficit in its General Fund cash balance as of yearend 2023, the Commission on Audit (COA) has reported.
In the 2023 audit released December 1 last year, state auditors said the cash deficit includes payments of amounts due to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Home Development Mutual Fund (PagIBIG Fund), the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), and other accounts payable.
“The municipality’s cash balance under the General Fund as of December 31, 2023 amounting to P2.548 was insufficient to cover its current obligations and trust liabilities totaling P23.678 million, resulting in a cash deficit of P21.129 million,” the COA report said.
It added that cash inflow for the year totaled P301.136 million but cash outflow amounted to P349.447 million.
“These figures show that the municipality has exceeded the disbursement limit. As a result, it incurred a cash deficit during the fiscal year,” the audit team noted.
Auditors noted “significant increases” in various expense items of the municipal government during the year, including Other General Services which has continued to balloon over the past two years from P43.12 million in 2021, P61.008 million in 2022, and P65.406 million in 2023.
“This surge was attributed to the continued hiring of numerous individual contracts of service (COS), job order (JO), and similar arrangement personnel. This risks draining the municipality’s resources,” the audit team warned.
Among the questioned hires were 20 barangay liaison officers paid between P5,000 to P13,000 each without any specific program detail for their hiring.
Likewise, 20 “community development assistants” were also found in various sectors, puzzling state auditors who pointed out that the municipal government already has offices taking care of these sectors.
At the same time, the audit team flagged the increase in travel expenses from P8.66 million in 2022 to P11.97 million in 2023.
It noted that municipal officials have been holding meetings, team-building activities and evaluations in far places, including distant tourist destinations when the rules require that such official functions be held in municipal premises whenever possible.
“A significant instance was the Gender and Development planning and budgeting conference held in El Nido, Palawan which involved 35 personnel, including local officials,” the auditors said. Municipal officials conceded the points raised by the audit team and assured auditors the recommended actions will be implemented to address the issues covered by the findings.
