As this newspaper ran Atty. Che Carpio’s columns assailing the claim of the Naga City government that transparency is at work through its website, we have sought the side of the much lauded and awarded mayor of Naga City, Jess Robredo. Since he was out of town and unavailable, the mayor directed us to the city’s auditor, Ms. Paciencia Tabinas, to provide responses to the inconsistencies pointed out regarding the city government’s claims of transparency vis-à-vis the website’s selective information.
Analyzing the statements of Ms. Tabinas, however, reveal that they had missed the vital point of clarifying the issue. Instead, we are given general assurances that nothing irregular has taken place in the disbursement of funds as well as in the awarding of bids. Moreover, her statements did not shed light on the suspicious “Confidential Expenses” of the Mayor worth Php1,420,500.00. Neither did they clear up why— notwithstanding the boast that the website is “transparency at work”—is the Commission of Audit (COA) report of 2007 which explicitly declared that Robredo’s administration “has failed to submit necessary documents for audit, has unaccounted funds, has not been sparing in allocating public funds, and has committed violations of procurement law,” not part of the information found in the website.
If there is real transparency as is claimed, then the FACT that the Robredo administration has not yet complied with COA’s report—even until now, two years after it the said report was made—SHOULD HAVE been part of the website’s information. As it is, the website is selective of the information it offers the public. Could that be really considered transparency? Or duplicity on the part of Mayor Robredo’s administration?
Consider again the “Confidential Expenses” of the popular mayor of Naga City. What exactly were these expenses about? The website is selectively uninformative about this. Is this transparency or duplicity?
Meanwhile, aside from being directed to the City Auditor’s office for some answers, this newspaper’s reporter was told by Mayor Robredo that by the previous week, he would personally come out with a response to the criticism against his administration’s claim of transparency. Till this date, despite our trust in the mayor’s word that he would personally clarify the matter, no such statement has been released. Were they sincere words or duplicitous deflection?
We cannot but infer that the lack of response to these criticisms regarding his administration’s claim of transparency is casting serious doubts on the sincerity of the said claim.
