Richard Gomez makes clarification about “missing” donations for Ormoc
RICHARD GOMEZ – The Leyte representative explained the recent report related to the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings regarding the donations received by the Ormoc City government during his tenure as mayor.
Gomez explained that the news reports regarding the “missing” in-kind donations were based on an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) released by the COA. According to him, an “AOM is an audit finding that a local government unit (LGU) or any office or agency being audited has to explain, if so required by the COA. It cannot be considered as irregular if a comment has been submitted and no adverse conclusion is made.”
Gomez highlighted that at the end of the report, the COA did not make any adverse or negative findings. He emphasized that there could not have been any adverse conclusion because nothing irregular had occurred in the first place.
The representative clarified that it was not the city government but a non-government organization based in their area that received the donation. As a result, the donation would not be reflected in the city hall’s records. The role of the city government, according to Gomez, was solely to facilitate the transfer of the donations. Gomez made it clear that the act of posting a photo did not necessarily indicate receipt of the donation.
Furthermore, Gomez expressed his concern regarding malicious news reports insinuating irregularities in the transactions. He emphasized that such reports not only disrespected the donors of the in-kind relief assistance but also undermined the efforts of the city government of Ormoc, which was genuinely working for the welfare and well-being of the people of Leyte.
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