DILG to treasurers: Help improve village financing

TACLOBAN CITY, May 18  -- A top official of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) urged municipal treasurers to help raise the capability of villages to manage their resources after the election of a new set of local officials.

Speaking to members of the Association of Local Treasurers – Leyte Chapter on Friday, DILG 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Marivel Sacendoncillo said most officials in villages lack skills in managing their finances, resulting in corruption.

Corruption at the community level is easy because there are areas where the chairman and the treasurer connive on illegal acts, said Sacendoncillo.

“They have to be trained on how to do bookkeeping and inventory of assets,” she said.

The village treasurer is appointed by the village chief and is tasked to collect and issue official receipts for taxes or payments accruing to the local treasury, disburse funds, and conduct regular inventory of all local government assets in their community.

“These villages are under the watch of local government units and we all know that governance in the municipal level is not really good. The Commission on Audit does not include villages in its regular audit,” Sacerdoncillo said.

Eastern Visayas has 4,390 villages in 136 municipalities and seven cities. Most of these villages have a new set of officials following Monday’s local elections. Under the law, these officials will serve a two-year term. (RTA/PNA)