A ‘prostitute’ local officials run to

I READ with interest Juan Mercado’s column (“Seven ‘Thou shall nots’,” Inquirer, 5/26/11) relative to Memo No. 2010-138 issued by Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, relative to the use of the Local Development Fund (LDF) of local government units (LGUs).

The LDF is a “prostitute” fund, against which any whimsical and capricious expenses by the executives may be charged. It is the equivalent of the pork barrel of the senators and congressmen, which is under their undisputed control. Even the barangay executives who approve the LDF, being the docile subjects that they are, get only minimal shares from the Fund for their projects.

The Commission on Audit, a constitutional guardian of public funds, is liable either by tolerance or as part of a “conspiracy.” The reason: COA auditors are well provided with travel allowances and office supplies (subject for conversion) in the annual or supplemental budgets of LGUs.

These transgressions in the misuse of LDF funds has become traditional practice since the enactment of the Local Code of 1991. Violations in the use of the LDF are only mentioned in the COA’s periodic or Annual Audit Report, but no sanctions have been imposed on, or cases filed against, executives who order the manipulation of the LDF.

President Aquino should apply and implement its anti-corruption slogan.

FRANK C. CABANATAN,
167 Lugay St.,
Guiuan, Eastern Samar