Tomas says council did well with budget

IT wasn’t what he had in mind, but former mayor and now Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district said the P5.2-billion budget approved by the City Council is better than the P11.8-billion proposed by his predecessor, Mayor Michael Rama.

“Rama presented an P11.8-billion budget and the council had to sort out the garbage because (Rama’s financial adviser) Ofelia Oliva is a nasty but smart treasurer. So many things are hidden there (in the executive budget),” he said.

The approved budget is higher than the P4.5 billion in 2010, Osmeña’s last year as mayor. While the congressman said the P5.2 billion is slightly bigger than the “skin and bones” budget he had in the past, it’s still better than Rama’s budget.

He said the council did an “excellent” job in reviewing the mayor’s draft budget.

“But hopefully it does not have to be like this all the time. But under the circumstances, I think they did an excellent job,” he said.

During Osmeña’s tenure as mayor, the council usually approves supplemental budgets to augment the existing budget to fund additional projects.

The council cut Rama’s budget by half after they questioned the identified revenue sources.

During the budget hearings, the council asked the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to always account for the disbursement of their drugs and medicines supply.

Council authorization will also be required along with identification of beneficiaries for any new purchases to be charged from the P40-million appropriation for the purpose.

This will be done on a quarterly basis, the council said.

The council approved a P279-million budget for CCMC next year or P61 million more than this year’s budget of P218 million. But it was P154 million short of the hospital’s requested budget.

About P186 million of the P279 million will go to their personal services while the remaining P93 million will cover their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.

About P40 million from the MOOE will be used to buy drugs and medicines while P9.2 million will pay for plaster, gloves, gauges and syringes among others.

The council also approved a P182-million budget for the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) next year.

Of that amount, P110 million will go to personal services while P72 million is for their MOOE.

The council has approved the inclusion of P50 million for reflectorized thermopalstic pavement markings in the Citom budget next year. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac