Cebu City mayor suspends fuel allocation to gov’t vehicles

CEBU CITY – Acting City Mayor Raymond Garcia on Tuesday ordered a thorough investigation of reports that some local officials allegedly siphoned fuel from government vehicles for personal use.

Pending the result of the investigation, Garcia suspended the issuance of gasoline and diesel allocations to all pick-up vehicles owned by the city government, including those assigned in the barangays.

Fuel allocation for emergency vehicles such as ambulances and police mobile cars will remain, he said.

“I tasked the Human Resource Department and the City Legal Office to investigate the alleged pilferage. In the meantime, they have to come to my office and request for allocation. They have to justify that fuel allocation is necessary,” he said.

Garcia’s order to investigate stemmed from a video of a “whistle-blower” posted on social media, accusing some officials in a certain office of the Cebu City Hall of stealing gas allocations for their personal use.

The expose prompted Cebu City Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr. to call for an investigation to identify the culprits.

The whistle-blower claimed that the fuel was stolen from vehicles of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (CCDRRMO).

The whistle-blower also claimed that a senior official of the CCDRRMO demanded from the personnel two months of their salary to be used to purchase equipment for the office.

“We will make them answerable if they are proven to have used the government fuel for their personal use,” Garcia told the Philippine News Agency. (PNA)