By Leonardo Micua

 

WHEN I joined the KBP Forum on Thursday, I heard off-mike from Jay Mendoza, manager of Sonshine Radio, that Dagupan is now the talk of the entire region.

And all the talks, Jay said, were nasty, not complimentary. All hurting to the ears.

Anyare? asked some regional directors, all wanting to know why Dagupan is not moving at a faster pace that it should, being the only independent component city in Region 1.

All that Jay, the chairman of the KBP Pangasinan chapter, could say was because Dagupan still has no approved 2023 annual budget and has been scrimping on the reenacted budget.

It’s, indeed, a big embarrassment to the whole region that until today (July 1, 2023) that Dagupan still has no approved annual budget.

Riled by a barrage of criticisms from the entire Region 1, it is unthinkable that those who caused this big catastrophe in the city can still sleep comfortably, and perhaps even toasting the wounds they had inflicted.

Normal people would have easily melted away in shame for their inexcusable act, enacting an annual budget destined to the dust bin.

While the other LGUs are already in the thick of preparing their 2024 annual budget, Dagupan’s 2023 annual budget was just resubmitted to the Sanggunian Panlungsod for consideration.

It has to be resubmitted because the measly P864.98 million annual budget that is good only for a third class municipality, passed by the SP majority councilors without any sense of the repercussion it would create, was declared inoperative in its entirety by the Department of Budget and Management.

Now, the resubmitted budget still faces uncertain fate, no longer in the committee level but in the SP plenary.

Other provinces in the region care about what’s happening in Dagupan because it is still a part and parcel of the whole Ilocos region.

If Dagupan’s growth slows down because it cannot implement the programs and projects in accordance with the plans drawn by its city mayor, it could pull the whole region’s rate of economic growth down.

Then Jay reported that the Department of Health has a whopping P5 billion worth of programs and projects for downloading to Dagupan, but DOH is having second thoughts because the programs  might get politicized and might not even reach first base for implementation.

The DOH and other agencies are aware that before the SP majority will not easily give its imprimatur authorizing Mayor Belen to sign MOA with its officials. They can delay the process with endless committee hearings.

That’s exactly what  happened to the annual budget, the ordinance for the establishment of the Balay Silangan, the authorization to Belen to sign a MOA with BFAR for co-management  of the Fish Processing Plant, and others, including a simple resolution for the creation of a Personnel Selection Board. All were shelved in committee hearings.

It would be a big loss to Dagupan and its citizenry if DOH decides to redirect its P5 billion worth of programs and projects to other LGUs whose city councils are cooperative and supportive.

Think of the numerous services and opportunities that could not be gained by Dagupeños from the DOH’s P5 billion programs and projects only because of the obstructive orientation of the SP majority.

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Incidentally, while I was writing this column, our photojournalist Butch Uka called me to say he’s moving his family from their home on Bacayao Sur to their old ancestral house in Perez Boulevard because their village is flooded knee-deep and  the water is far from subsiding.

His neighbors are also leaving their homes because it’s already the flood season in Dagupan. 

Butch said Barangay Captain Gregorio Taminaya could not be of help because the budget for a drainage project he had long requested could not be provided in the absence of an approved annual budget in the city government. 

The same situation exists in other barangays. Their projects included in the defective annual budget declared inoperative in its entirety cannot be implemented all because of efforts of the SP majority to sabotage the city’s development.  

So, how can regional officials not believe that it’s a bunch of hardcore obstructionists  constituting the majority in the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod? 

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