CITY Legal Officer Aurora Valle expressed fear that if the P864.91 million annual budget passed by the seven-man majority in the Dagupan City Sangguniang Panlungsod due to its numerous violations is officially declared inoperative in its entirety by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), it will create a bad image for Dagupan, it being governed by ignorant politicians.

“Ano na lang ang masasabi ng DBM? That we do not know how to compute and balance the budget?” Valle intoned in a press conference also attended by Councilor Michael Fernandez and Luz de Guzman, former city budget officer.

Without preempting the result of review of the annual budget of Dagupan for 2023 by DBM, Valle said several violation committed on the annual appropriation were very glaring as the seven-man majority, namely, Councilors Red Erfe-Mejia, Celia Lim, Irene Lim-Acosta, Dada Reyna-Macalanda, Alvin Coquia, Alvin Fernandez and Marilou Fernandez, did not apply the correct allocation of funds and disregarded laws, particularly the mandatory provisions.

She said pubic officials should always be competent to do what is incumbent on them under the Local Government Code, short of saying that those who prepared and passed the annual budget did not study and neither did they know the laws.

It is a direct indictment of the majority seven who amended the annual budget of P1.3 billion proposed by Mayor Fernandez in its entirety and substituted it with their own in the amount of only P864.91 million, slashing the budgets of Emergency Workers, honorarium of front liners and many others in wanton disregard of existing laws.

She said if P16 million cannot be accounted for in the budget, it is already considered a substantial error, not just a clerical error that the seven councilors wanted to make it appear.

This could only be the reason they attempted to pass another ordinance to “rectify” what they claimed to be a clerical error, after passing another resolution approving Annual Investment Program of P2.8 billion from P1.16 billion AIP they first passed, Valle said.

A legal action is very likely because of the irreparable damage that was done not only on the city but also its workers as well as the people who would be served by this appropriation.

Today, the city government is already operating with a reenacted budget. and one of its impact is there will be no salary increases due regular workers this year,” she said.

She supported the view of Councilor Michael Fernandez that under a reenacted budget, no supplemental  budget could be passed by the Sanggunian.

De Guzman said the DBM will allow the resubmission of a new proposed annual budget but will again require tedious and endless committee hearings by the SP majority  till it is passed. (Leonardo V. Micua)

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