THE Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) will seek the legal opinion of the Department of the Interior and Local Government whether the appearance of Mayor Belen Fernandez before the SP on May 28 and earlier on May 7 without the suspension of the rules, was in order.

This was sought by  Majority Leader Councilor Librada Macalanda at the end of her privilege speech last Tuesday, saying the appearance of the mayor without the suspension of the rules and the invitation from the SP is illegal and violated the independence of the legislative body and existing protocols.

This was also echoed earlier by opposition Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia in an emotional privilege speech who chided posts in social media castigating the majority members of the SP for allegedly disrespecting the mayor while the mayor was talking.

At one point in his speech, Erfe-Mejia said : “Hindi kami ang nambastos. Kayo ang nambastos sa amin at ang batas”.

To be attached to the inquiry to DILG are the minutes of the sessions on May 7 and 28 , including the unedited and raw video footages of those sessions.

Meanwhile, the majority decision to invite Mayor Fernandez after completing the committee hearings on the proposed supplemental budget was passed with a vote of 6 to 5, voting against the suggestion of the minority, that she be invited in the next session.

Councilor and Minority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez earlier proposed that the mayor be invited to the next session of the SP to answer all questions from the majority bloc pertaining to the proposed Supplemental Budget No. 2-2024. (Leonardo Micua)

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