By Leonardo Micua

 

NO one has to doubt the report that Dagupan is in the tail end among all cities in Region 1 for its performance given the kind of councilors that the people elected in 2022.

Using their number as the majority, the seven councilors in the opposition muscled the administration of Mayor Belen Fernandez, as obstructionists, not as fiscalizers, in the belief that what they were doing was good to their city and people. Crazy.

Look at what they’ve done. While all other cities in Region 1 were already implementing their planned programs and projects in 2023, they plotted and succeeded to make Dagupan City subsist on a limited reenacted budget for almost a year.

And they did not give a whet about it.

Since a reenacted budget does not provide for the essential needs of a growing city,  Belen’s administration had to suffer in overcoming the challenges they created.

But God always works in mysterious ways. And by a quirk of fate, three majority councilors suddenly went on a holiday abroad. The four that were left behind opted to join the session via Zoom on September 26, 2023 not realizing they did not have the majority number. The 2023 budget was passed.

Still, the Regional Trial Court denied the two petitions filed by the majority councilors that questioned the legality of the passage of the same.

Mayor Belen Fernandez and the five minority councilors fought resolutely against the petitions because the seven majority councilors wanted everything undone.

Dagupan was the only local government in the country that defied the order of President BBM to grant P20k Special Recognition Incentives to its regular employees and P5K to its job-order employees and consultants on or before the end of 2023.

These incentives were only granted sometime in April after the majority chipped off P42 million of the proposed P590-million Supplemental Budget No. 1-2024.

In trying to reverse the decision, did they really think they can ask the employees to return the salary increases they eventually received?

And when the 2024 annual budget was passed belatedly in March, most local governments in the region were already busy implementing their planned programs and projects.

Still using their number, the seven majority councilors blocked all the requests of Mayor Belen for the passage of the city’s supplemental budgets to support essential programs and projects not included in its annual budget.

Worse, it was not the work force under Mayor Belen that they targeted to benefit but those who already retired from the service many of them their allies who had not yet received their retirement benefits.

Also, until this time, the approval of the P150 million Mother and Child Hospital, a gift from DOH, is being withheld only because the majority councilors insist the real motive behind the donation was eventually to make the mayor’s family richer with the projected increase in value of their lands near the hospital. Yet, no one among the opposition was ready to donate for the project.

Mayor Belen had every reason to believe that if only God gave her a more supportive Sanggunian, the result would have been the opposite, Dagupan would be on top of the totem pole.

So realizing that the 7 opposition councilors will continue to betray their respective oaths to serve the people of Dagupan City, she begged for funds and projects from senators and congressmen, and from various national government agencies. Thankfully, she succeeded in minimizing the impact of their betrayal. But it was not enough and there is no time left.

Unless Mayor Belen agrees to the overtures of the seven obstructionists to meet them in a private neutral place, she realizes that there is no more chance for the long overdue Supplemental Budget No. 2-2024 to be approved.

Given the mindset of the obstructionist councilors, Mayor Belen already stopped hoping against hope that the 2025 annual budget that she intends to submit to the Sanggunian in October (DILG’s deadline) will be approved. It will not be approved.

And since the filing of CoCs is already in October, Mayor Belen might as well wait for the 2025 elections for a chance to have a supportive Sanggunian that really cares for the welfare of the people.

I sure hope that the people will be more careful this time in choosing their leaders. I hope that this time, there will be fewer who will continue to be blinded by the color of money usually dangled by corrupt politicians and candidates.

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