MAJORITY: SIMILAR OUTPUTS IN 2022, 2023 BUDGETS

DAGUPAN Councilor and Minority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez, slammed the majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod for erroneously drawing similarities between the passage of the 2022 annual budget by the past SP majority, and passage of the annual budget this year by the new council majority in a bid to escape culpability over their actions, including violation of laws in the process.

In response to the privilege speech last week of Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia’s claim, Fernandez said:

1. The amounts and motives behind the two annual budgets alone greatly differ: the 2022 annual budget was P1.38 billion while the 2023 annual budget is only P864.91 million.
2. The appropriations for the salaries and wages of job order employees and consultants, as well as the honorarium or allowance of front liners in 2022 were approved, but these were systematically deleted in 2023 budget.
3. The committee hearings on the  approved 2023 budget required the submission of  names of job order employees; the 2022 budget hearings did not.
4. The submitted proposed 2023 budget  submitted by the Fernandez administration complied fully with the requirements   of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Budget and Management and the Office of the President while the proposed 2022 budget submitted by the Lim administration delayed its submission of many other requirements for months.

The requirements included  the Devolution Transition Plan (DTP), Capacity Development Plan and the Indicative Procurement Management Plan which were all required in connection with the Supreme Court ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia landmark case that allocated local government units bigger share from taxes being collected by the national government.

To Erfe-Mejia’s claim that the Capacity Development Plan and the Indicative Procurement Plan were not eventually required by DBM, Fernandez cited Executive Order 138 of President Rodrigo Duterte that required submission of such documents.

5) The 2022 budget could have been passed earlier if the Lim administration did not delay submission of the requirements but action on the proposed 2023 budget submitted as early as October 2022 with the AIP, no action was taken until January 11, 2023.

As proof, Fernandez presented a five-page timeline of Transmittal, Deliberations and Approval of 2022 Annual Budget and Annual Investment Program released by the Office of City Secretary Ryan Ravanzo showing that the past SP constantly reminded the past city executive to submit the three required documents.

6) The past Sanggunian approved all allocations, including the development fund for the 2022 budget but today’s Sanggunian slashed the P148 million development fund leaving the city government without any budget for infrastructure (for flood control, access road or for school buildings)

“”Paano nasabi ng majority seven na, parehas ang pagkapasa ng 2022 annual budget at ang 2023 annual budget?” Fernandez told the media. (Leonardo Micua)

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