By Leonardo Micua

 

OPTING to be a spoiler of the festive atmosphere currently enveloping Dagupan, following the long-awaited approval of the annual budget, rather than aligning with the jubilant citizens, the majority in the city council has made it evident that they wish Mayor Belen Fernandez’s administration and its constituents to suffer.

Even though the approved P1.3 billion annual budget is currently undergoing the necessary processes from relevant government agencies, the majority continues to push for its recall, subjecting it to their slow, painful, agonizing, and never-ending hearings, even as 2023 is drawing to a close.

However, the Office of the Secretary of the Sanggunian Panlungsod, knowing that the measure was validly passed, could not be restrained by any force from finalizing and transmitting the approved budget to Mayor Belen Fernandez’s office for her signature. Not even the seven-member majority in the SP can prevent this.

In short, the approved annual budget has become a fait accompli, as Mayor Belen formally signed it on October 5, just three days after its passage. It was subsequently returned to the SP for proper documentation and forwarded to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for mandatory review.

It’s worth recalling that this is the second 2023 annual budget forwarded to the DBM for review. The first one, passed by the SP majority on March 28, amounting to P864.97 million, faced objections from the minority and was declared “inoperative in its entirety.”

This suggests that the latest budget submitted by Dagupan to the DBM has a good chance of passing after review.

It is within the rights of the majority bloc to seek legal opinions from both the DBM and the DILG on the manner the annual budget was passed. But, to our knowledge, no rule or law was violated in its passage.

During the October 3 session, the SP majority contended that the Internal Rules and Procedures (IRP) of the SP were grossly violated by the minority when they passed the 2023 annual city budget. Councilor Alvin Coquia claimed that this violated the IRP as provided for in Resolution No. 7927-2022.

However, Councilor Michael Fernandez held firm, asserting that the IRP or House Rules of the Sanggunian cannot supersede the Local Government Code (LGC), which holds a higher rank in Parliamentary Rules, according to an opinion from the DILG. Furthermore, he emphasized that the LGC, enacted by Congress and authored by the late eminent lawyer-Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., takes precedence over the Sanggunian’s IRP, which was enacted by a mere resolution (No. 7927-2022).

Since Congress holds a much higher authority than the Sanggunian, the members of the Dagupan SP majority should stop insisting that the IRP is as powerful as they want others to believe, even at this time.

Based on records and certifications during the plenary by City Secretary Ryan Ravanzo, Mayor Belen Fernandez certified the appropriations ordinance enacting the annual budget as urgent twice.

To suggest that the appropriations ordinance was passed only by a simple majority and not a qualified majority, Fernandez cited records of the Sanggunian as well as official video footage of the September 26 session, which showed that the four majority members did not object or seek adjournment after a motion for adjournment was made, effectively rendering the appropriations ordinance unanimously passed. #

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments