Excess budget

However tight-fisted the Cebu City Council seems in allocating this year’s budget, we also have to ask whether the departments maximized their previous budgets such that asking for more funds in a supplemental budget would be justified.

One case in point is City Health Officer Stella Ygonia’s complaint that her P20-million budget for medicine wasn’t enough, especially for maternal health care owing to the increase in neo-natal death rates.

While she denied saying there would be a health crisis , Ygonia was quick to point out that her department faces a deficit since their P133-million allocation falls far short of her proposed P278-million budget.

But there are points to consider such as the disclosure that the health department has a P20-million surplus from its 2011 budget of P70 million. Since Mayor Michael Rama encouraged his department heads to set high budget targets, one wonders how much surplus funds each would get if their proposals were approved.

We also have to verify the claims by the opposition council that barangay officials failed to receive obstetrical kits from the City Health Department. One thing we do know is that the Cebu City Medical Center also had surplus funds that they failed to use and account for.

The council previously questioned the excess medicines intended for dengue victims that the center failed to account for. Hospital officials reasoned then that the excess medicines came after the tide of dengue cases subsided, thereby reducing demand.

While a tight-wad budget would certainly sacrifice operations, department heads also have the responsibility to ensure that money they are given is not wasted.

Health care is a priority of course but as an administrator, Ygonia should also be prudent enough to plan the use of existing funds to buy supplies and ensure that these are delivered to their intended beneficiaries.

Stockpiled materials are a common problem that not only leads to waste but also encourages beggar-like dependency in the departments and agencies concerned.

One need only look at the construction materials and excess vehicles parked at the South Road Properties that have been soaked and gathering dust and rust to know just how much of taxpayers funds have been flushed down the toilet by our prudent city officials.

The challenge for department heads is to maximize limited resources without sacrificing services to their benficiaries.