City office illegally issuing temporary receipts

When you pay anything to the city government, always demand an official receipt.
Do not accept anything short of the official receipt.
If a city office to whom you paid money issues a temporary receipt in lieu of an official receipt, tell that collecting personnel that this is illegal.
The law, the revised administrative code provides that No payment of any nature shall be received by a collecting officer without immediately issuing an official receipt in acknowledgment thereof.
The government’s accounting and auditing manual explicitly prohibits the issuance of temporary receipts: “At no instance shall temporary receipts be issued to acknowledge receipt of public funds.
The Commission on Audit has discovered that the city agriculturist’s office, crop division, had been issuing temporary receipts (T.R.), instead of official receipts (O.R.) in the sale of crops.
This is illegal, says the COA.
The COA conducted an examination of the file copies of documents kept by Ms. Felicitas A. Barba, Agriculturist II, the center chief, crop division.
The COA found several ORIGINAL copies of already-issued official receipts.
The COA was surprised---or suspicious?--- why already-issued official receipts were still in Ms. Barba’s possession when these official receipts are supposed to be in the possession of crop buyers.
The COA then discovered that what were issued by the office were not official receipts, but only “temporary acknowledgment receipts.”
According to Ms. Barba, upon the sale of crops, the buyers are issued temporary acknowledgement receipts, especially during those times when she is not around.
Ms. Barba continued to explain, that in her absence, she designates a utility worker, named Eddie Apenas to accept sales of crops and instructs him to issue temporary receipts to the buyers, prior to issuance of official receipts which are in her custody.
The COA inquired, why official receipts (already issued) were still in her possession.
Ms. Barba explained these official receipts will be given to the buyers “later”, or when they come back to buy again.
The COA asked whether the office has file copies of the temporary receipts.
None, said Barba.
This is illegal, COA reminded.
This practice may raise suspicions as regards the amounts appearing in the temporary receipts, with that indicated/transferred in the official receipts, the alarmed COA noted.
There is no way to trace and compare the T.R. against the O.R. because there were no file copies of the issued temporary receipts.
The COA also raised the possibility that no official receipts may have been issued for some collections.
If this is the case, to whose pocket do these collections go?
Ms. Barba said she has been recently designated. She is not aware of the regulations.
After the COA discovery, Ms. Barba said the practice of issuing temporary receipts will be stopped.
Here is a possible scenario, as may be feared by the COA: For example, P500 was paid by a buyer. A temporary receipt of P500 is issued (by a utility worker) and given to the buyer. But what if only P100 is “later” written in the official receipt ?
Remember, the COA uncovered issued official receipts in Ms. Barba’s possession.
Is this scenario impossible, improbable, remote?
What’s your answer?

Winner at starbucks

I won a free frap at Starbucks today.
I am in Cebu for a hearing.
I dropped by at Starbucks at the northwing of SM Cebu.
I merely wanted to check the mails on my computer.
So I purchased a Globequest prepaid internet card.
When the cashier at Starbucks punched my transaction, the receipt yielded that I won a free tall drink.
This one is literally cool.
By the way, I ain't a coffee drinker.
But I can say Starbucks is my cup of tea.
I was instructed to go to a website called www.MyStarbucksVisit-ph.com.
I responded to a survey, generally on Starbucks services.
At the end of the survey, I was given a "customer code" in numbers.
I wrote the numebrs on the receipt and handed it back to the cashier.
Then I got my free tall drink, mocha frap.
Nice.

Letter to city agriculturist

I sent a letter to the city agriculturist of Dumaguete City , asking for his side about the report of the Commission on Audit which discloses very disturbing anomalies in this city office. I realized that the anomalies that has plagued the Department of Agriculture (read: Joc Joc Bolante, swin scam, etc.) has trickled down to the local counterparts. Here is the letter:

October 17, 2008

Alfredo de los Santos
City Agriculturist
Dumaguete City

Sir:

May we kindly request your side about the COA report for 2007 which points to certain questionable transactions by the city agriculture office. We intend to await your side on the matter before publication. But please give us your response on or before October 23, 2008.

The COA report for the year 2007 discusses its findings on the city agriculture office on its “Part II – Findings and Recommendations” Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12. A copy of the COA report is available at the COA office where we got our copy.

Specifically we seek your side on the report that your wife, Cleta de los Santos, and city agriculture office employees were recipients/beneficiaries of Plant now pay later scheme, Grow-now-pay later scheme swine fattening.

We also want to know why crops sold in the city agriculture office were so low than usual market prices, and why the city farmstead was a prominent buyer.

We look forward to getting your side.

I can be contacted at Cel phone number 0920-932-6537, or email at elmarjayd@yahoo.com.

Thank you.


Elmar Jay Martin I. Dejaresco
Associate Editor

Mama won P10,000 Premyo sa Resibo

My mother, Marlen I. Dejaresco, is one of the daily winners of the Bureau of Internal Revenue's "Premyo sa Resibo" (Prize in Receipts).
She won by just collecting official receipts and texting details (like the T.I.N. of the store, receipt number, amount of purchase, etc) of each official to a certain cellphone number, at 9777 or 9778.
Quite easy.
If you want to join, just go to www.philweb.com.ph or http://www.premyosaresibo.com.ph/index.aspx
This is a promotional endeavor of the Bureau if Internal Revenue to encourage taxpayers to demand receipts from commercial enterprises.
This would, in turn, push commercial establsihments to issue official receipts, which would enable the B.I.R. to collect more revenues for the government.
The promo is to let taxpayers, text to a certain cellphone number the details of their accumulated receipts, which would then be electronically raffled by the B.I.R.
Every day there will be a winner who will win P10,000.
The winner will also be entitled to join another raffle with bigger prizes like P100,000 and P1,000,000.00.
However, while it was my mother who won, it was me who appeared as the winner on paper because I had to be the one to personally claim the prize at Philweb offices at the 17F Enterprise Building, Ayala Ave cor Paseo de Roxas Makati.
Mama sent me the original of the winning receipt, an official receipt issued by Shoemart, when my father, Ely made some purchases there recently.
I presented two identification cards, and gave a photograph.
Then I was issued the P10,000.00 check in my name.
This is a cool way to be richer by P10,000.
Or, it could be P100,000 or P1,000,000.00.

P.S. Photo shows Rhodell Valdez of Philweb handing over the check to me at Philweb offices.

My college diploma

I found my college diploma today.
It is already yellowish, after just about sixteen years since grduation.
I graduated with a degree of bachelor in business administration, Silliman University in 1992.
I decided to just scan it and post in the blog, in case the original gets lost again, or self-destructs.
After college graduation, I took one year off, and continued working in Dumaguete City in my father's newspaper and radio station.
Then I proceeded to law school.