Butuan City to establish Truth Commission too

BUTUAN CITY - A Truth Commission will also be established in Butuan City, its mayor said on Wednesday, a day after Philippine President Benigno Aquino III announced the creation of a similar body. But unlike the Truth Commission that will look into the Arroyo administration’s alleged irregularities, its Butuan counterpart will examine the alleged oversights of the previous local government’s leadership. “I will just wait for the recommendations of the transition team for creation of the local version of Truth Commission," newly sworn-in Butuan City Mayor Dr. Ferdinand Amante, Jr. in a press conference held right after he took office on Wednesday. Although he offered reconciliation to all political rivals — especially the Plazas — he nevertheless vowed to investigate supposed irregularities that took place under the term of his predecessor. Among these issues include alleged misuse of an annual P18-million intelligence fund intended for the Office of the Butuan City Mayor. Only P800,000 have been left from the P18-million fund allotted for this year, former Commission on Audit (COA) auditor for the City of Butuan Mrs. Leah Mendoza said. Mendoza was among those who evaluated the local government’s funds with the City Accountant Office. The fund lack may also pose a problem since "six months left for year 2010 by which the money was intended," incoming City Administrator Atty. Roldan Torralba said. Torralba, a former Butuan City councilor, is the chairman of the Amante camp’s transition team. Another emerging issue covers how ten city government offices had their electricity cut off due to unpaid power bills. An estimated P25 million was allegedly previously spent to pay for electricity bills to the Agusan del Norte Electric Cooperative (ANECO). During the May 2010 election campaign, Amante’s camp hurled allegations of malfeasance, mismanagement of government funds, and other claims of graft and corruption against the then incumbent Plaza administration. At the height of the May 2010 campaign, the Amante camp even distributed pamphlets and recorded alleged corruption practices in compact discs, detailing practices of then incumbent Plaza administration. - RJAB Jr./JV, GMANews.TV