Town fails to collect P112K in rents from market tenants

By: Gerome Dalipe

RENTAL fees from 10 stall tenants inside the Guimbal Public Market in Guimbal, Iloilo totaling P112,810 have yet to be collected by the municipal government, state auditors discovered.

In its annual report, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the amount remained uncollected as of Dec. 31, 2018.

The failure to collect the rental fees understated the town’s income, depriving the municipality with funds to finance programs and projects beneficial to its constituents.

In their report, the auditors urged the mayor to direct the town treasurer, market supervisor and other concerned officials to enforce collection of the delinquent rentals plus penalties and interest.

The stalls of the market renters who failed to settle their accounts should also be declared vacant and offered to other interested occupants.

The treasurer, market supervisor and other town officials are also urged to strictly enforce the guidelines set under the Municipal Revenue Code on the leasing of the market stalls.

Apart from uncollected stall rental fee, the payroll paid to the town’s job-order workers were not supported by the required documents.

The practice ran contrast to Sec. 4 (6) of Presidential Decree 1445, otherwise known as the Government Auditing Code of the Philippines, the auditors said.

“Hence, the propriety and validity of the payments of public funds could not be ascertained,” read the COA report.

In the same report, the auditors asked the mayor to instruct the town’s department heads to require the job hires assigned to them to properly prepare their necessary daily time records and accomplishment reports.

The mayor should also instruct the municipal accountant to require the submission of the necessary supporting documents from each job hire before their monthly wages are processed.