Unliquidated cash advances of previous officials and employees of the city government of Dumaguete have reached about P10 million, City Treasurer's Office records show.
This was confirmed by Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, who has directed another employee to account for the expenses incurred during the Sinulog Festival in Cebu in January this year.
City administrator, William Ablong, made a cash advance of P240,000 for the City Tourism Office and the check was encashed by city tourism officer Andre Tumulak.
However, until today, there seems to be a problem in gathering the receipts, the mayor hinted. He directed Tumulak to liquidate the expenses or return the amounts that don't have corresponding receipts.
The P240,000 was allotted for the Sinulog contingent of the city during the Sinulog Festival in Cebu, and Tumulak along with the purchaser Andres Dago-oc, were in charge of the marketing of goods for the contingent.
Tumulak admitted to DAILY STAR, some lapses in keeping the receipts and that some of these may have been lost.
Ablong, on the other hand, said he wanted to clear his name on the issue because it was he who made the cash advance. He submitted affidavits and other supporting documents to the City Mayor's Office to prove that he did not keep any centavo of the amount.
A committee tasked to look into unliquidated cash advances is expected to be formed soon.