Calapan City’s 2024 budget hanging
The city government’s budget this year has been hanging in the balance after the city council overrode Mayor Malou Morillo’s veto on the P1.236 billion budget the council has approved for 2024.
The members of the city council, led by Vice Mayor Rommel Ignacio, said that they sent back the vetoed budget to the office of Morillo, stressing that the mayor’s claim that the city’s council’s budget version is prejudicial to public interest has no basis at all.
It can be recalled that the city’s executive department vetoed the city council’s approved budget for 2024, accusing the council of intentionally delaying the approval of the same last year.
“It is within our powers under the Local Government Code to override the veto of the executive department,” said Ignacio during a press conference on Thursday afternoon, April 4.
“And we are wondering how the executive (department) viewed our version of the budget as prejudicial or harmful to public interest. We have added funds for the senior citizens benefits, single parents, health care, market improvement, the city’s zoo maintenance, for tourism among others. How can these be prejudicial to public interest,” said Ignacio.
The vice mayor also said that the budget of the legislative was reduced to P77 million from P107 million last year, while noting that the travel allowance of the Office of the Mayor was increased by 131 percent from P1.3 million to P3 million, and representation allowance by 546 percent from P619,000 to P4 million.
“The adjustment that we made for the basic services that we had promised to our people during the election came from the proposed budget from the executive that we deem as unnecessary and untimely like the improvement of the structures in the Calapan City Complex, the rehabilitation of the canals,” Ignacio revealed.
“In my two years as vice mayor, I have not experienced flooding in the City Hall compound,” said Ignacio, adding that the Sangguiang Panlalawigan
(SP) can always pass a supplemental budget if the need arises.
The SP has also asked why the executive department vetoed the whole budget while the adjustment that the legislative had proposed is only 4 percent or only P52.46 million of the total budget proposed.
Ignacio said that two things could happen if the executive department insists on their stand — either they go to court or a reenacted budget be used.
City department heads held a press conference last week explaining the reason for the veto, with the city legal department declaring that the SP’s version of the budget is “prejudicial to public interest.”