ILOILO City – The provision of service vehicles to city hall departments and other offices is either upon request of the end users or the prerogative of the City Mayor’s Office.
General Services Office (GSO) head Joren Sartorio stressed this in reaction to the current controversy – the 13 pickups procured by the city government for city councilors amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sartorio said the account for the said vehicles is under the capital outlay.
“It goes both ways. Pero normally, ang mga officers or end users amo na ‘ya ang naga-request gid. Sila naga-determine sang kinahanglanon nila especially sang ila appropriation sa ila opisina,” Sartorio said.
“Sa kaso naman ‘ya sang capital outlay kay embedded na ‘na sia sa mayor’s office gid… pwede nga upon the determination of the city mayor nga kinanglanon, pwede sia ka-initiate kag i-procure ‘ya ina. Prerogative ‘ya gid ina,” he stressed.
Sartorio noted that many departments requested for service vehicles even prior to this latest procurement because most of their current service vehicles are reconditioned multicabs that entail a lot of expenses for maintenance, among others.
Each pick-up (4×2 Mitsubishi Strada) for the city councilors costs P1,110, 000, said Sartorio.
The procurement process took around two months and the Notice to Proceed was released just this March 29, 2021, he added.
Sartorio also clarified that city councilors can waive the vehicles in favor of other departments or offices.
“Indi man iya sang particular lang nga opisina or department, iya na ‘ya sang city government kay government fund,” Sartorio added.
The GSO head also said city councilors were yet to officially receive the pickups. No Property Acknowledgment Receipt has been issued to them yet because “there are still documentary requirements to be completed.”
The recent turnover was just ceremonial, said Sartorio.
So far, seven city councilors expressed intention to accept the vehicles. They said these were needed for their function as legislators. They were Romel Duron, Rudolph Ganzon, Alan Zaldivar, Ely Estante, Lyndon Acap, Jojo Javellana, and Irene Ong.
Meanwhile, councilors Mandrie Malabor, Candice Tupas and Eduardo Peñaredondo waive the vehicles in favor of other city hall departments.
As of this writing, Panay News was trying to reach councilors Jay Treñas, Love Baronda, Frances Grace Parcon, and Sangguniang Kabataan president Leila Luntao for their positions on the matter./PN
