Garcia seeking speedy approval of P17.9B budget

CEBU, Philippines — As the end of 2024 approaches, Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin has called on the City Council to swiftly approve the proposed P17.9 billion budget for 2025, expressing confidence that it won’t be slashed unlike the previous year.

“Hangyo gyud ko sa city council nga ila ng ipapaspas ang approval sa budget,” Garcia told reporters yesterday, Dec. 16, 2024, in a press conference.

Although the P17 billion proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year has already undergone marathon budget hearings, it has not been formally tackled by the City Council, whose approval is crucial for its passage.

Garcia, however, said it is important that the budget be approved urgently, as it contains “important” budgetary allocations, namely the budget for the Sinulog 2025 celebration, which will take place next month.

He added that since Sinulog falls in the first month of the year, it is vital that the annual budget be approved to release the corresponding subsidies to the participating contingents.

It was previously reported that to entice more participants to join the competition, the city government is increasing the subsidies to as much as P1.5 million for out-of-town contingents, higher than the previous P800,000. The Cebu City barangay contingents, which previously received P700,000, will each get P1 million, while contingents from Cebu Province will also receive P700,000.

“Of course we have to spend for allowances, we even have to spend for packed meals, kadaghang police nga atong pakan-on for Sinulog Day, etcetera, so we need the budget to be approved so that we can process it in advance,” said Garcia.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao, chairman of the Committee on Budget and Finance, previously said that, based on the budget hearing, there may be a possibility that the proposed budget will be slashed due to the unclear source of funds.

Garcia, however, in the same interview yesterday, said that the City Council approved a P50 billion budget in 2023 and trimmed down the P100 billion proposed annual budget to P25 billion, which he added both reflected unrealistic figures as they did not align with the targeted revenue.

“And now you have a budget that is now realistic at P17.9 billion. Dili na hinuon nila i-approve nga karon na nuon realistic?” said Garcia.

He added that it would be impossible to justify that the proposed budget of P17.9 billion is bloated, considering that it is much lower compared to the previously approved amounts.

“Ako, apil gud ko ato, ni-approve mig P50 ug P25 (billion) nya karon realistic di sila mu-approve,” Garcia said, referring to the time when he still served as the council’s presiding officer before his ascension to the role of Cebu City Mayor.

On the “logical” train, Garcia expressed his optimism regarding the council’s approval of the budget.

In a separate interview, Wenceslao told reporters that although the committee report has already been prepared on their part, some items were amended by the Cebu City Budget Office due to errors.

Some amendments were made upon checking, as other amounts were found to be higher than those indicated in the Annual Investment Plan (AIP), to avoid marking them as inoperative by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“Gagmay raman nga mga items (amended),” said Wenceslao.

According to Wenceslao, the proposal was supposed to be included in the agenda last Friday, but to no avail.

To expedite the process, Wenceslao said they may need to conduct a special session, although no concrete date has been set yet. Wenceslao, however, said that personally, he would have wanted to fast-track the approval.

On the retention of the P17.9 billion budget proposal, Wenceslao was uncertain, expressing that there may be a portion that will be trimmed.

Garcia, on the other hand, said that before they arrive at an annual budget, it is already aligned with the projected revenue of the city, as reported by the Local Finance Committee (LFC).

“So sa iyang projections, makaabot man kuno tag P17.9 billion, which is mu-balance sa atong expenses, income and expenses, so that being said, I think you know it will be realistic,” said Garcia.

Garcia further said that he is hopeful to sign the budget before the year ends.

Tomorrow, December 18, will be the final city council regular session of the year, as the next session day falls on December 25, which is a holiday. — (FREEMAN)