Leyte 4th district Rep. Richard Gomez

Leyte 1st district Rep. Richard Gomez has hit back on "malicious" news reports, saying that there's "nothing irregular" with the Commission on Audit's (COA) observations on the in-kind donations to Ormoc City. “Recent news reports on the allegedly ‘missing’ in-kind donations to Ormoc City is part of an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) released by the [COA]," Gomez, a House assistant mqjority leader. said in a statement. "What does it mean? An AOM is an audit finding that a local government unit (LGU) or any office or agency being audited has to explain, if so required by the COA. It cannot be considered as irregular if a comment has been submitted and no adverse conclusion is made," he explained. Gomez was the Ormoc City mayor prior to his election as congressman of the 4th district of the province. He is also a former television and movie star. The official underscored that the COA observation did not make any adverse or negative finding as far as the in-kind donations to the LGU are concerned. "In the first place, there could not have been any adverse conclusion because nothing irregular really happened." "For transparency," the ex-mayor said, "My administration has always tapped local non-government organizations (NGOs) to receive donations given to Ormoc City." "These donations are not inputted in the city’s records because the city did not spend for these donations. The only role of the city government is to facilitate the transfer of the donations. Gomez also defended the LGU's decision to post about the donations on Facebook and other social media platforms. He said this was "in keeping with [Ormoc's] being transparent and accountable to the public". "The malicious news reports insinuating irregularities in these transactions is not only an affront to the donors of these in-kind relief assistance but the city government of Ormoc, which was simply looking out for the welfare of the people of Leyte," he further said.