ILOILO City – In a social media post, former mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog denied any misappropriation of public funds, clarifying that P40-million was used for the purchase of a landfill compactor in 2014.
He was responding to his detractors amid allegations of financial irregularities involving a P41-million disallowance flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA).
A formal complaint has been filed against Mabilog at the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas.
The complainant, Amádo Jubelag Hollero, a former barangay captain of Our Lady of Lourdes, called for an investigation into the P39.7-million disallowance by COA related to the 2014 purchase of a landfill compactor.
Mabilog stressed that the compactor was properly delivered and received by Engr. Neil Ravena, head of the General Services Office (GSO).
Although COA flagged the transaction due to a lack of proper documentation, Mabilog maintained that there were no anomalies.
“Why are you panicking now? Are you paying the media to spread fake news? No city funds were lost. Cap, what did you do with your tanod’s allowance? Maybe you’re the one being complained about,” he lamented.
COA flagged the transaction due to insufficient documentation, issuing a notice of disallowance (ND) that has since become final and executory.
A 2013 transaction where the city government allegedly failed to charge a contractor P1 million in withholding tax, resulting in another disallowance.
Hollero’s letter to Epicurus Chario Salcedo, acting director of the Ombudsman-Visayas, underscored repeated adverse findings in COA’s Annual Audit Reports (AAR).
Hollero also submitted a Request for Assistance (RAS) to the Ombudsman, stressing the need for accountability in public service.
“I do so in the shared pursuit of accountability and transparency of our government leaders and workers,” Hollero said in his Feb. 5 complaint./PN
