BY JEN BAYLON

Negros Occidental Provincial Tourism Office head Cheryl Decena and five employees of the Mambukal Resort and Wildlife Sanctuary have been issued a show-cause order (SCO) for alleged unliquidated expenses.

Provincial Legal Office head and Acting Provincial Administrator Alberto Nellas, Jr. said the SCO was issued to Decena under the principle of command responsibility, as she neglected to rectify the unliquidated cash advances of her subordinate disbursing officers in 2023.

The SCO indicates that Decena inexplicably chose to allow the disbursing officers to continue obtaining cash advances.

She was the officer-in-charge of the Mambukal Resort from 2022 to 2023.

Meanwhile, the SCO was also issued against five resort employees due to their alleged lapses in financial management, which included improper disbursements of funds.

Nellas said the Mambukal Resort generated P30,375,712 in revenues last year, including income from catering services and related collections, but its expenditures reached P33,918,904.12.

The employees are expected to explain their actions and justify their management of the resort’s finances.

Nellas said an investigation is ongoing and recommendations will be made based on the findings.

Meanwhile, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson said he did not consider the issue as a “big deal.”

“Maybe they were busy doing other things,” Lacson said.

“They just have to liquidate. It’s an obligation of all those who have advances,” he added./JB, WDJ