More stringent requirements for LGUs applying for loan includes annual audit reports from COA

Sa ilang lalawigan din pala, tulad ng Bulacan ay matinding usapin din ang pangungutang sa bangko ng pamahalaang panlalawigan dahil kapag nautang na anila, ay lumalabo naman kung saan napupunta ang salapi ng bayan, basahin dito. Naglabas na rin ng report ang COA hinggil sa mga hindi malinaw na bagay sa nasabing balita.

Sa Marinduque naman ay may kasong isinampa ang Provincial Government laban sa isang bangko dahil sa pangungutang ng nakaraang administrasyon para sa heavy equipment (P 75-Million). Ang siste, 'yun mismong bangkong idinemanda ang inuutangan ngayon at ayon sa ulat ay minamadali ng sadya, "ASAP".

Matatandaan na mismong sa ulat naman ng Joint Committee ng Sangguniang Panlalawigan ay gusto ring mangutang ng lalawigan ng ganoon ding halaga (P75-Million), para rin sa heavy equipment. Kasama ito sa ibig utangin na may kabuuhang P 500-Million.

Kung may mga reglamente man ang mga institusyon na may kinalaman sa pangungutang ay puwede naman daw itong 'aregluhin' na lamang.

Subalit matatandaan na ang Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima ay naglabas ng Local Finance Circular noong 2012, na naglalayong maging mas mahigpit sa mga LGUs na nangungutang sa mga bangko o ano mang financial institutions.

Ani Purisima, "Kailangang tiyakin natin na hindi aabusuhin ng mga LGUs ang kanilang karapatang mangutang na ikasasama lamang ng kalagayan ng kanilang mga nasasakupan". (We need to make sure that LGUs do not abuse their right to borrow to the detriment of their constituents).

Mababasa sa ibaba ang mas mahigpit na mga rekisitos ng pamahalaan na dapat sundin para sa mga LGUs na hindi abusado at marunong sumunod sa mga alituntunin. 

Tungkol sa COA annual audit report, ipagmalaki kaya ng Pamahalaang Panlalawigan ng Marinduque ang COA Report 2013, na may napakahabang lista at detalyadong mga anomalya sa Marinduque sa nabanggit na taon? 

by dofweb

THE BUREAU of Local Government Finance (BLGF) has made more stringent the requirements for local government units (LGUs) applying for authority to borrow money from banks and other financial institutions.

Local Finance Circular 1-2012 laid out new documentary requirements which LGUs need to submit to BLGF before they can be granted Certificates of Borrowing and Debt Service Capacities should they need to borrow money.

The circular, signed April 2012 by Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, whose department oversees BLGF, superseded Local Finance Circular 1-2000 issued on January 19, 2000.

“We need to make sure that LGUs do not abuse their right to borrow to the detriment of their constituents,” Purisima said on Wednesday.

Original requirements under the earlier circular are the following: statement of actual income and expenditures and certification of internal revenue allotment (IRA) received for the past three years; certification of taxable assessed value for the past three years and dates of the last general revision of real property assessments; certification of existing loans, if any and annual audit report from the Commission on Audit for the past three years.

Under the new circular, the following documents were added to the original requirements:

• letter-request from the local chief executive indicating the lending institution and the purpose and terms of the loan;
• certification of absence or existing and approved loans, when applicable;
• certification by local accountant that LGU has not incurred default in payment of amortization of an existing loan;
• certification from the secretary of the Sanggunian or the local legislative body that the proposed project to be financed by the loan is included in the Approved Annual Investment Plan for the current year;
• authenticated copy of the resolution authorizing the local chief executive to negotiate and contract a loan in behalf of the LGU;
• certification issued by the lending institution stating that it shall not require LGU deposits as compensating balance for the loan if the lender is a private entity;
• Seal of Good Housekeeping from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and;
• proof of compliance with the full disclosure policy of the DILG

Purisima said fiscal discipline should also be exercised by LGUs and not only by the national government.

“We have made significant reforms, one of them the directive to revised assessed real property values, in order to allow LGUs to raise more revenues. The idea is that you spend only as much as you earn,” the Finance chief said.

“But should you need to borrow, as the national government does, we want to make sure that these units have healthy balance sheets enough not only to cover their loans, but more importantly to continue their service to the people in the long run,” he explained.

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