Press Release
May 29, 2014

Koko proposes that LGU treasurers be appointed by local gov't execs

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III today said he is proposing an amendment to the Local Government Code of 1991 that would empower local government executives to appoint the provincial, city or municipal treasurer.

Pimentel further proposed that the treasurer shall be under the "direct control and supervision" of the governor, city or municipal mayor, as the case may be, to whom he shall report regularly on the LGU's tax collection efforts.

The proposed amendment will enable LGUs to become "more effective partners in the attainment of national goals" through a system of decentralization that gave them more powers, authority, responsibilities and resources, he said.

"It will enable them to attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities," Pimentel added.

The bill seeks to amend Sections 470 and 471 of the Code providing for the appointment, qualifications, powers and duties of the provincial, city or municipal treasurer and assistant treasurer.

"It will allow the direct supervision and accountability of the treasurer by the governor of the province, of the city or municipal mayor concerned," said Pimentel.

At present, the Secretary of Finance has the power to discipline, suspend or dismiss the treasurer. It is a setup that may be an anomaly under the Code's provisions for "genuine and meaningful local autonomy," said Pimentel.

The present law "prevents the governor, or the city or municipal mayor concerned from exercising disciplinary powers over the treasurer," he said.

Pimentel further said that it is proper that the powers as provided for in his proposed amendment be vested on the local government executives because treasurers are paid wholly from local funds.

In proposing an amendment to Section 470 (b) of Republic Act 7160, he said the appointment of the treasurers shall be "subject to civil service law, rules and regulations."

A recent case in point was the failure of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista to replace his overstaying city treasurer with a list of three candidates as required by the Department of Finance (DOF).

Bautista had asked the DOF to relieve his city treasurer Edgar Villanueva last May 6 "for flaunting perks of a lavish lifestyle from signature clothes to a fleet of luxury cars."

But the DOF stonewalled on Villanueva, whom Bautista had already recommended to be replaced as early as April 23 this year after a tour of four years in Quezon City.

News Latest News Feed