There’s no “gag order”, Dagupan Mayor Lim insists
CITY Administrator Vladimir Mata asserts that “there is no gag order” imposed on city hall department heads even as they, including Mata himself, continue to fail to appear before the Sangguniang Panlungsod to explain their respective submitted budgets.
Mayor Benjamin Lim issued a memorandum in October ordering department heads not to appear before the SP without his consent, which he has so far refused to give.
“We welcome any invitation from the SP to clarify any issues on the budget. However, as we have been telling repeatedly, it is more practical for both the executive and the legislative, if we answer their queries in writing as this will help us save time for other pressing works in the city,” said Mata in a statement.
“After all, writing is another form of communication, which the SP can use for extracting some important details of the budget proposal,” he added.
Lim already bewailed the seeming delay of the SP in acting on the budget.
“We already did our part. We submitted the proposal to them on time. I hope sooner or later, ito ay maaprubahan na agad,” the mayor said.
The city council has been inviting department heads to appear before the SP to some pressing issues but the invitations were snubbed by all.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez had warned that action on the budget will be delayed if the department heads will continue to snub the SP’s invitations.
She said the city council cannot be blamed for any delay in the passage of the budget or a cut in the budgets of departments if the department heads do not appear to respond to questions of the councilors.
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