Mayor Abby acts to address delay in passage of 2019 Makati budget
Makati Mayor Abby Binay has called on the city council to hold special sessions on the long-delayed 2019 budget, after 10 opposition councilors refused to attend the session Wednesday.
In her memorandum to all city councilors, Mayor Binay cited Section 52 (b) of the Local Government Code of 1991 (R.A. 7160) which empowers the local chief executive to call for special sessions of the Sanggunian “when public interest so demands.”
Another memorandum signed by the mayor on January 22 certified as “urgent” Draft Ordinance No. 2018-064, which appropriates the 2019 Executive Budget of the city government amounting to 118.17 billion. The proposed Appropriation Ordinance has been pending since it was first calendared on October 24 last year.
With the absence of some councilors, there was no quorum for the council to deliberate on the 2019 budget, which includes appropriations for salary increases and additional benefits for senior citizens.
The city council failed to act on the budget for the third straight session this year.
Councilor Armand Padilla described the absence of the opposition as a “boycott” and reminded them of their “sworn duty to attend the sessions.”
Those who did not attend the session were Councilors Shirley Aspillaga, Grazielle Iony de Lara-Bes, Ferdinand Eusebio, Leonardo Magpantay, Romeo Medina, Nelson Pasia, Arlene Ortega, Mary Ruth Tolentino, Marie Alethea Casal-Uy, and Evelyn Delfina Villamor.
Only Councilor Nemesio Yabut Jr., majority floor leader, and Councilor Divina Jacome, chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations and Budget, were present.
Vice Mayor Lagdameo, presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, expressed her frustration over the continued delay in the approval of the budget.
“The councilors in the opposition know fully well that the ability of the city government to deliver efficient and effective services to our constituents is on the line, and yet they have shown no sense of urgency at all,” Lagdameo stated.