Anomalies in CamSur just the tip of iceberg

The anomalies cited by Neal Cruz in his July 3, 2011 column were just the tip of the iceberg. They merely referred to the 2009 report of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the highly questionable expenditures of the administration of Camarines Sur Gov. LRay Villafuerte.

As one of the Citizen Crime Watch volunteers who, along with those of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), pressed the filing of charges against Governor Villafuerte, I would like to stress that the COA also unearthed a veritable Pandora’s box of misdeeds in CamSur as reflected in its 2007 and 2008 reports.

For 2007, COA placed the province’s property, plant and equipment discrepancy at a mind-boggling P2.7 billion, not including millions of pesos more in accounted, questionable disbursements of taxpayers’ money.

Indeed, Governor Villafuerte has a lot to answer for, such as the non-issuance of receipts in the resort facilities being operated by the provincial government, including the CamSur Watersports Complex (CWC) and the Caramoan resort.

Allow me to cite COA’s 2008 report to show that aside from the non-issuance of receipts, other shenanigans are taking place at CamSur-operated resorts. Said COA: “The CWC has been operating as an economic enterprise for more than a year now without adopting approved basic policies and procedures to serve as its manual.

“It [LRay’s administration] failed to enforce the terms and conditions in the MOA governing the use of the hotel and resort in Caramoan, Camarines Sur by Adventure Line Production thus, only the amount of P14,009,075 was collected out of the P16,500,000 contract price.

“The province likewise failed to record the receivable portion of the account in the amount of P2,490,924, thereby understating both the receivable and income accounts by such amount.”

Too bad that Cruz ran out of space. What is there to open in CamSur is not just a can — but jars upon jars, or make it drums upon drums — of worms. I just wonder whatever happened to the cases that had been filed against Governor Villafuerte before the Ombudsman.

—ISON IGNACIO,

Palestina, Pili,

Camarines Sur