By Leonardo Micua

 

DURING a media forum on Wednesday on Kabaleyan Channel, Mayor Belen Fernandez accepted the challenge of Councilor Alfie Fernandez to the minority to file a case against the majority if they found their action in shelving anew the P1.3 billion annual budget not in conformity with law.

Sounding firm and composed, she intoned in an unequivocal voice: “Challenge accepted”.

This certainly is a welcome move on the part of the mayor that is long overdue and should have been done earlier. After all, somebody must be made accountable for the miserable life imposed on the Dagupenos, especially the indigent sector.

I hope this will lead to the filing of more cases against the past city administration, which according to Mayor Belen left a trail of graft and corruption, like a supposed 12-day food binge during the pandemic that cost the city government more than P50 million and, believe you me, handed to just one caterer as contractor.

For imposing requirements that could not be found in the books and making it as an excuse for them not to pass the annual budget, the majority councilors in the Sanggunian committed a crime against the people of Dagupan, and should be answerable for their action.

In that media forum, City Legal Officer Aurora Valle gave the nod for Mayor Belen to file a case for dereliction of duty against the majority seven for reneging on their sworn duty to pass the annual budget, and another case for abuse of authority for their alleged capricious and whimsical acts.

It is unfortunate that after 12 months in office, Belen’s administration still does not have an approved annual budget. No thanks to the majority, the budget they passed to beat the 90-day deadline was declared “inoperative in its entirety” by the Department of Budget and Management.

To this day, the seven-man majority clearly still wants Belen’s administration to subsist from crumbs provided in the reenacted budget.

In fact, the regular employees of the city government are crying out loud because the third tranche of their salary increase as provided for by a national law cannot be given to them sans the resubmitted annual budget.

And worse, workers of the city government who already reached the mandatory age of retirement now face uncertain fate because they bowed out of service without any retirement pay.

And the seven-man majority, all millionaires, do not give a hoot about the plight of the poor and city hall employees who are depending on the city government for their medicines and ayuda. They can die in hunger and without any medicine.

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In that media forum, Belen also made it clear to members of the SP majority that until they pass the annual budget, she will not talk to them about their agenda. That’s well said.

Recall that Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia made it known during the Local Development Council meeting of the intention of the majority to talk to the mayor for a reason he did not specify.

Since this did not happen last June 22 at the agreed time and place because the majority councilors supposedly had prior commitments, Belen slammed any talk  this time unless the annual budget is passed.

That was a good decision because any talk before the passage of the annual budget would invite a nasty suspicion that the members of the majority got their “share” of the budget as the compromise to speed up the passage and approval of the budget.

For after all, what’s the need for a “private talk” demanded by the majority councilors with the mayor to pass the annual budget? They have been earnestly  asking for this “private talk” even since last year!

If the members of the majority are not bothered by suspicion that they got bribe money for the passage of the annual budget, Belen, as mayor, would not want to be part of it.

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