Cebu dads slash mayor’s budget by at least P6B

CEBU CITY—The city council slashed by more than half the city government’s proposed P11.8-billion budget for 2012.

The councilors, all allies of Cebu City Rep. Tomas Osmeña, approved a budget of P5.2 billion, cutting off P6.6 billion from the proposal sent by the congressman’s erstwhile ally now arch rival Mayor Michael Rama.

Rama declined to comment on the council decision.

“The most important thing is that it (budget deliberation) is over,” he said.

Rama has 90 days to veto the council ordinance. Otherwise, it will be deemed approved.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, the council’s budget committee chair and wife of Tomas, said it was not easy to trim the budget but the council had to exercise “prudence.”

“Taking out over P6 billion from the budget was not easy. We did it step by step,” she said.

Among items removed from the budget were allocations for six new master plans (P75 million), new transport terminal (P50 million), employee housing (P100 million), a barge (P50 million), three new parks (P55 million), pocket forest (P10 million), expansion of the Cebu City Medical Center building (P150 million) and parking lot for hospital consultants (P10 million).

The council retained the P400-million allocation for 80 barangays and P300 million for senior citizen assistance.

The council also doubled appropriation for the city’s scholarship program to P200 million. Doris C. Bongcac, Inquirer Visayas