Tabuk City, Kalinga – Bureau of Local Government Finance–Cordillera Administrative Region (BLGF-CAR) Regional Director Mary Lou G. Gamboa commended Kalinga's provincial, municipal, and city treasurers for maintaining integrity in revenue collection and ensuring the timely remittance of government funds, saying she has not observed any corruption among local collectors in the province.
Gamboa made the statement during the closing of the two-day Writeshop on the Updating of the Local Revenue Code and the Rationalization of Fees and Charges, where she praised Provincial Treasurer Ma. Theresa G. Basitao and local treasury officials for their commitment to accountable and transparent revenue administration.
Gamboa said that based on her observations, she has not encountered any irregularities involving collectors in Kalinga's local treasury offices.
"... wala naman po akong nakitang corruption as to the collection of collectors. I just want to commend the provincial treasurer kasi in all the municipalities of Kalinga, wala naman po akong nakitang nagko-corrupt na collectors natin, and I'm so proud of them na they are collecting and they also remit on time," Gamboa said.
The BLGF Regional Chief added that Kalinga's collectors have consistently carried out their responsibilities with professionalism by ensuring that government revenues are collected properly and remitted on time, reflecting the province's commitment to sound fiscal management and transparent local governance.
While acknowledging that she had observed collection-related issues in some other provinces during her field experience, she emphasized that such concerns had not been evident in Kalinga.
"Para sa collectors natin, they are doing their part and commitment to the government and actually wala dito sa Kalinga," she added.
The Regional Director's statement highlighted the province's efforts to uphold transparency and accountability in local revenue administration as the Provincial Government continues to strengthen its fiscal management through the updating of the Local Revenue Code and the rationalization of local fees and charges.
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Jerome Alunday, meantime, discussed ways to improve revenue collection from sand and gravel operations during the first day of the writeshop, jokingly remarked that if collections remained low, they might have to "inspect the collectors."
"Sapay kuma ta ayusen tayo daytoy regarding the sand and gravel, ta isu met ti kadakelan nga kwa (collection) tayo dayta.... Kasanu metlang nga ngumato ti collection nu haan tayo nga ag-collect nga usto ken nasayaat. Haan kuma nga nu maka-collect tayo ti bassit ket naragsak tayon. Dapat adu latta kuma ti mai-submit tatta," he said.
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