Tom defends budget cut

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña defended the significant cut in the budget for the registered senior citizens, persons with disabilities, and other groups.

“Our budget is based on a very conservative study on what funds we are going to get for the year. I’m confident that we will get more. We will sell the three hectares that’s worth already P3 billion,” he told reporters at his press conference yesterday. He was referring to the prime lots at the South Road Properties.

This was after some of the Barug Team Rama-allied City Councilors questioned the reduction of the city’s financial aid.

The aid for seniors went down to P605 million from P807 million, while aid for PWDs was reduced to P78 million from P91 million.

Also, the financial aid for the Association of Barangay Councils and Barangay Councilors’ League of the Philippines went down to P1 million from P3 million, while the aid for the Lupong Tagapamayapa went down to P500,000 from P1 million.

“Cost-cutting” was one of the reasons cited by Osmeña for the budget cut.

Osmeña said the proposed P6.29 billion annual budget for next year does not cover the whole programs for senior citizens and PWD.

In the city’s proposed budget for 2018, the executive department reduced the budget from P807 million to P605 million for senior citizens program; and P78 million to P91 million for PWDs welfare program, among others.

“So, the priority there is that the senior citizens is not funded up to the end of the year. It’s funded more or less half of the year. We’ll have money by then. We’ll pay the senior citizens and the PWD,” he said.

The mayor said the senior citizens and PWDs will continue receiving their annual financial assistance amounting to P12,000 and P5,000, respectively.

Osmeña said the city’s executive department can always push for a supplemental budget after the sale of the SRP lots.

As for ABC and BCLP, the mayor said, the city will not allot bigger budget for them because the city is giving direct services to the residents of the barangays.

Osmeña recalled that there was one time when the previous administration did not give any financial assistance to the ABC and BCLP, stressing that at least his administration is proposing for a P1 million aid.

He said it is better than nothing.

“What we are trying to do right now is we are trying to serve the barangays directly. Now, they cannot claim any right because the first place they are not supposed to be there. They are just lucky because there were no elections. So they are all overstaying. That’s what they are,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned, as far as the law and as far as the Constitution is concerned, they don’t represent the people. Their terms are expired. But anyway since they are there, they should not demand as if they were just elected,” he added.

Among the programs of Osmeña is the Long Life Medical Assistance Program wherein over 47,000 patients are getting free medicines every day from the city government.

Sought for comment, ABC President Phillip Zafra said he will request for the inclusion of ABC’s additional budget next year.

City Councilor Jose Daluz III, for his part, said the financial assistance to ABC and BCLP is important as it is used as their constant source of fund for their annual operations.

“This would be a big loss to them,” he said.