THE chairman of the finance committee of the Dagupan City council denied what he called ‘wild speculations’ that the majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) is delaying the passage of the P568 million proposed budget due to political reasons.

Councilor Jeslito Seen, finance committee chair, clarified that the budget requires a thorough review to ensure that the estimated income proposed by the mayor’s office is really attainable.

He said there is a need to adopt caution in approving the budget because “if we make a mistake as a result of undue haste, this may affect the lives of the people and the city as well”.

Emphasizing that the committee is “no rubber stamp of the mayor nor of the vice mayor”, who chairs the SP, Seen said it is easy to approve a budget but to demand that this be approved outright without the benefit of thorough review can result in fiasco if not irreparable damage to the city.

Seen took note that the proposed budget submitted by the executive is P70 million more than the 2010 annual budget of P498 million.

“Therefore, we have to know exactly where the P70 million additional budget will come from,” said Seen, pointing out that it is not too late to approve a budget for Dagupan City because under the Local Government Code, the SP is given up to 90 days from the start of the new fiscal year to approve a budget.

While Seen said he was informed by the executive branch that the P70 million increase in the budget can be funded from the expected Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of the city, he cited a new guideline from the Department of Interior and Local Government that the IRA can only be used for developmental projects of local government units (LGUs) and not to fund salary increases and bonuses of employees.

At the same time, he said there is still a need to invite City Administrator Vladimir Mata and other department heads to answer some questions from members of the finance committee or other members of the SP to clarify where the proposed appropriation will come from.

Department heads, however, had been ordered by Mayor Benjamin Lim not to attend invitations for committee hearings and investigation by the SP unless there is prior clearance from him.

He said a sound financial analysis and financial expenditure management will be adopted by the committee in order to come up with a balanced budget, adding that this cannot be simply done overnight.

If an LGU fails to approve a budget at the end of the year, the 2010 budget is deemed reenacted and this will continue till a new budget is approved.

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