Provincial Board asked to intervene in Compostela session

CEBU, Philippines - Compostela Mayor Ritchie Wagas is asking the Cebu Provincial Board to intervene in the issue regarding the special session for the approval of their 2009 annual budget.

This after the majority opposition in the municipal council snubbed the special session called by the mayor on April 28 to discuss the proposed 2009 budget of P74.814 million.

“Our submitted 2009 executive budget is still pending and the sanggunian concerned did not continue to hold sessions at the beginning of this year supposedly until the said budget is approved pursuant to the mandate of the law,” Wagas said in his letter addressed to chairman of the Committee on Budget and Appropriation PB member Wenceslao Gakit.

Wagas informed Gakit that the municipality’s proposed budget has yet to be approved by the municipal council.

In requesting for a special session, Wagas said the session is needed to enact the annual budget within ninety days from the beginning of the year.

Wagas also asked Gakit to appear personally during the supposed session and “possibly provide guidance to the Sangguniang Bayan in tackling this urgent matter”.

Of the eight members of the council, only administration councilor Venancio Gatdula Jr. attended the session so there was no quorum.

In a separate interview, opposition councilor Teresa Cang, chairwoman of the committee on budget on finance in the council, said she was asking for the schedule of personnel for last January yet but the mayor did not provide them with it.

“Besides, there are issues (in the 2008 annual budget) that are yet to be resolved which have not been resolved presently,” Cang said, adding that the schedule of the personnel is the list of all people employed and paid by the municipality “for us to know how much we are spending for personnel services.”

According to Cang, the council passed the 2008 budget of P47 million but the mayor vetoed it.

In turn, the municipal council overrode the mayor’s veto claiming the opposition did not get the required number, adding the mayor vowed to implement his version of P57 million.

“The issue is not about giving in, the issue is we have to thresh out salient points kay dili man na kwarta ni mayor, dili pud amoa, kundi sa tanang tawo sa Compostela,” Cang said.

Cang, however, could not tell when the municipal council would approve the 2009 annual budget.

But while the council may have all the reason to disapprove the budget, Wagas said the former should not delay the allocation’s approval.

“The mandate of the legislative body is to authorize the mayor to disburse the executive budget. If there are items which are objectionable to their partisan eyes, they may slash, scrap or disapprove the entire budget and replace with the entire one. What is mandated by law, kinahanglan ilang ipalabang ang budget,” said Wagas.

Cang confirmed that the proposed 2009 budget of P74.814 million is still pending before her committee.

Cang said that the council still has to approve this year’s budget since her committee is still waiting for a report from the executive department’s local finance committee.

Right now, the municipal government of Compostela is using the P47-million 2008 budget proposal. — Garry B. Lao/BRP (THE FREEMAN)