In a text to Punto yesterday morning (July 20), Garbo said engineer Ronald Canlapan had not complied with his 24-hour ultimatum issued last Monday.
Earlier in the News@ Hues forum of the Pampanga Press Club at Park Inn by Radisson Clark, Garbo also said he has ordered a probe of ghost casual and job order (JO) employees under his disqualified predecessor Mayor Marino Morales, as he noted that after his order for all of them to report to work, only 310 of them showed up.
“Records showed 446 casual and 1,008 JO personnel, but it seems only 310 of them actually report to work. Each of those on record receive salaries ranging from P7,000 to P13,000 monthly or about P120 million a year,” Garbo said.
In a decision last May, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified Morales for exceeding three successive term limit allowed by law, and ordered Garbo installed as mayor for getting the second highest votes during the 2016 mayoral elections here.
Garbo said that when he assumed post last July 2, he ordered an audit of government finances and records. “In fairness to (Morales), the city government still had P725 million in its coffers,” he said.
But he noted that when he asked for records on completed and ongoing infrastructure projects since 2014, Canlapan just vanished and that personnel in the engineering department reported that the engineer had carted off two computers which contained details on infrastructure projects since 2014.
A source from the accounting office said Canlapan never provided his office copies of the engineering projects. “He always kept the records to himself,” the source said.
“I found some checks issued by the treasury office to contractors, but details on the infrastructure projects were in the missing computers,” Garbo noted.
Garbo debunked reported rift between him and the city council, noting the council has approved his proposal to realign budgets to fund his proposal to provide funds for free hospitalization and funeral expenses to the poor up to December this year.
“We now have P10 million for burial assistance, P15 million aid for those hospitalized even in private institutions. We already have coordinated with San Rafael Hospital, Garcia Hospital, Angeles University Foundation Medical Center and The Medical City for this,” he said.
