Rama threatens council with raps

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has warned the members of the City Council of possible charges if they continue to delay the passage of the proposed P3.32 billion supplemental budget this year.

Rama issued the warning after the legislative body has not tackled the supplemental budget number 1 during its regular session last Wednesday.

“Kay kon naa ganiy matters nga pugngan, unya illegal pagkapugong, then I will tell Jerone (City Attorney Jerone Castillo) ‘Jerone, let’s be legal this time.’ Kay dili mana mahimo nga sige nalang ta og being put on hostage. It cannot be. And then the one who will be prejudiced will be the employees and will be the people,” Rama said.

“(Filing of complaint or) anything that can make them either to be facing a sanction or whatever pain that they will have to be under with. So that lessons will be learned,” he added.

The bulk of the SB-1 will be used for the prepayment of the South Road Properties loan.

The city has entered into an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency for the Y12.315 billion or around P4.65 billion loan to finance the reclamation of the 300-hectare SRP in 1996.

As of now, the city still owes P2.3 billion which is scheduled to be paid fully in 2025. The executive department believes that the city government could save millions of pesos if it will pay the SRP loan as early as now.

The SB-1 also contains the P77 million productivity enhancement incentive of the City Hall officials and employees.

Earlier this month, the City Council urged the executive department to release the bonus of the employees not later than September 15. However, the executive department said that it could not release the fund yet pending the passage of the SB-1.

“Kun object-an nila, object. Kun dili, dili. Kun ensakto, ensakto. Unsa may ilang problema?” he asked.

Rama said he wants to meet with the members of the local finance committee and the city lawyers to discuss the status of the supplemental budget and the preparation of the 2016 annual budget.

“Akoy ga-submit sa SB-1. Diba I was out? I need to know where we are,” he said.

Rama wants the members of the City Council to do their job since the executive department has already done its part.

“I will not make that (the SB-1 is being held hostage) statement now. But, they (City Councilors) should be watchful that there are laws that they have to be aware about. There are also provisions on the code of ethics that they also have to be mindful,” he said.

On the other hand, City Councilor Margarita Osmeña said that the members of City Council’s Committee on Budget and Finance, which she sits as chairperson, are waiting for documents that were not submitted by the executive department.

Osmeña said the committee has set a meeting with the city treasurer and the city accountant today for clarifications and updates on certain documents.

“It’s ongoing, it doesn’t mean that we haven’t received, we also have questions on the city sponsored activities kay there are certain items there. They gave us breakdown, but question arose because they were asking for more P20 Million. When in annual budget appropriate already 42 million. Where did it go?” she cited this instance to defend their side.

She said that there are also items in the supplemental budget that need to be clarified like the P117,000 for the payment for the grand reunion of the Abella clan, which was not covered by a resolution.

“Just like the pay-per-view sa Pacquiao-Mayweather fight, penitence right, and others. These are the questions that we have. It may seem minor or petty but again we still have to ask. In our minds that’s questionable,” she added.  (FREEMAN)