JVR, Talisay council on for head-on clash

CEBU, Philippines – Mayor Johnny De los Reyes has vetoed in part the Talisay City Council's budget ordinance, a move seen to further widen the gap between the executive and legislative branches.

De los Reyes told reporters yesterday that the city's legislature "committed acts beyond its powers" by cutting the original P1.081 billion proposed budget down to P539.941 million.

The trimming, the mayor said, will hamper the delivery of basic services in Talisay.

"Akong gigamit ang akong gahum sa pag-veto tungod ug alang sa mga Talisaynon nga angayan gyud unta natong hatagan sa saktong serbisyo. Apan unsaon nato paghatag sa saktong serbisyo kung dili maki-angayon ang ilang paglaslas sa 2015 annual budget?" De los Reyes said in a statement read by city information officer Cynthia Barrit.

Once again, De los Reyes described the slashing as loaded with political motives.

The vetoed message of De los Reyes was already transmitted yesterday afternoon to the Office of the Vice Mayor and the Office of the Secretary for calendar.

Under Section 54 of the Local Government Code, the local chief executive is given 10 days to veto an ordinance.

The current City Council is dominated by councilors from the Alayon Party, which is Liberal Party's opposition in Talisay.

There are 11 members of the council, seven belonging to Alayon namely Councilors Richard Francis Aznar, Socrates Fernandez, Edward Alesna, Antonio Bacaltos, Doroteo Emit and Eduardo "Digul" Gullas III while four are with the LP of De los Reyes.

Under the law, the SP can override the mayor's veto through a vote of two-thirds of the members of the council, which means, the council will need eight votes to override the mayor's veto.

However, the Alayon members got the support of two councilors from the LP members:Councilors Danilo Caballero and Aldin Diaz. This will leave only two councilors, Councilors Valeriano Ylanan and Dennis Basillote, to vote to support the veto.

In a separate press conference, Vice Mayor Romeo Villarante told reporters that he will be calling for a special session to tackle the mayor's veto on certain provisions in the approved budget.

"It is also the discretion of the council to slash the budget submitted by the mayor. Under the wisdom of the nine councilors, the motive behind is not politics but only to fiscalize the mayor," Villarante said, adding that the council is not a "rubber-stamp."

Villarante said the mayor should not mislead the constituents and should not use the slashing of the budget as his weapon.

"Walay gilas-las nga budget ilabi na nga may kalambigitan alang sa delivery of basic servicess. Unsa'y hinungdan ug nganong gilaslasan ang 2015 proposed budget? Sa dihang gipatawag sa konseho ang pipila ka mga department heads aron mapangutana kon unsa'y unod ug gastuhan sa lump-sum, other maintenance and operating expenses ug special activities, wala sila makahatag og igong pamahayag, katin-awan ug katarungan maoy hinungdan nga kini gilaslasan sa siyam ka konsehal," Villarante said.

The vetoed items cannot take effect, unless the city council "overrides" the veto.

City budget officer Edgar Mabunay said there are some items in the budget that require sufficient allocations, which the council slashed.

Among these items, Mabunay said, are the judicial services fund which was trimmed down from the proposed P325,000 to P50,000; firefight, from P2.15 million to P550,000; city health services, from P1.070 million to P50,000; rural health services, from P1.7 million to P50,000; and payment for insurance for the building, from P4 million to P50,000.

City legal officer Alfredo Sipalay said if the majority of the council would override the mayor's veto, De los Reyes will be looking at other legal remedies to counter the council's move.

Sipalay said the veto is not the only option De los Reyes could take.

Sipalay said the mayor could go to the Cebu Provincial Board or to the lower court to seek a temporary restraining order.

"The mayor will bring the matter to the Provincial Board kay magpalaban ta didto kung makatarunganon ba gyud ang paglaslas sa 2015 budget or modangop kita sa korte," Sipalay said.

Among the items vetoed by the mayor were appropriations under the Office of the Mayor that included the allocations for confidential/intelligence expenses and other maintenance and operating expenses, which was reduced from P10 million to P100,000; gasoline and fuel allocation, from P6 million to  P2 million; repairs and vehicle maintenance, from P5 million to P2 million; extraordinary expenses and miscellaneous expenses, from P426,000 to P76,000; advertising expenses, from P600,000 to P10,000.