City Hall: Moreno Also Made Half Billion Peso Cash Advances

By Mona Lagbas

May 1, 2025, Cagayan de Oro City_ City Hall has accused former mayor Oscar Moreno of also drawing massive cash advances amounting to P586 million during his last term from 2019 to 2021.

Bencyrus Ellorin,Moreno's former communications consultant and now convenor of Kauban Ta Uy movement, said that in December 2021, Moreno made 14 cash advances amounting to P171,556,000.00; In December 31, 2020, Moreno drew 7 cash advances for 125,500,000.00; and in December 2019, Moreno made 12 cash advances for 289,500,000

00 totalling P586,756,000.00 in just three years.

"This makes hypocritical and malicious the claims of the camp of the former mayor to impute wrongdoing in the practice of cash advances at the local government unit. These cash advances fit the pattern of how Moreno mismanaged City Hall’s finances. Gihurot, giwaldas gyud ang kwarta sa syudad. We have so far unearthed over half a billion in cash advances to himself,” added Ellorin.

“On its face, it would seem that Moreno made drastic withdrawals of City Hall funds at the end of the year,” added Ellorin, noting the pattern on how Moreno allegedly mismanaged city hall finances.

Ellorin also disclosed that Moreno left City Hall on June 30, 2022 with only P103 million left in the city’s coffers, and suppliers and contractors unpaid to the tune of P2.7 billion. He said that the Commission On Audit, in 2022, observed that Moreno left at least 126 unfinished projects amounting to 1.05 billion.

Reacting to Moreno's former administrator and ertswhile social welfare officer Teddy Sabuga-a's so-called 'expose', Ellorin said that this is unfair to employees of the local bureaucracy who are just doing their jobs.

"The practice of drawing cash advances for certain City Hall expenditures is normal. So why make a fuss about it? Perhaps it is out of frustration of the Moreno camp. But they should have spared the non-political employees in the issue,” decried Ellorin.

Ellorin reiterated that Moreno's drawing of huge cash advances has raised more questions.