Young: I didn’t oppose City Charter bonus

THE P85.9-million supplemental budget sought by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will have to wait for next week to get approved.

It wasn’t in yesterday’s agenda of the City Council session.

The secretariat said the mayor’s office failed to submit a detailed breakdown of the supplemental budget on time.

The extra budget includes the P7,000 Charter Day bonus for each city employee and official.

Vice Mayor Augustus Joy Young clarified that contrary to Mayor Michael Rama’s claim, he isn’t opposing the grant of a City Charter bonus to employees and officials.

Young said he only wanted the mayor to clarify his priorities since department heads were complaining about budget cuts by the council.

Young also said it wasn’t true that he never experienced being a minimum wage worker.

He said he worked as a sales assistant for two companies before he decided to manage the family business.

The vice mayor showed reporters his SSS employee member report issued on Nov. 3, 1975 as proof.

Young said he earned P240 per month then from two companies where he worked as sales assistant for three years.

“Mas hayahay ug mo trabaho ko sa gawas kay sa strikto kaayo nga ginikanan (It was better for me to work outside rather than under strict parents),” he said.

Young said he worked in their ukay-ukay and appliance store business every summer in high school.

He continued working in their family business to earn his college allowance.

In the proposed supplemental budget, more than half or P52.3 million will go to maintenance and other operating expenses.

This will be taken up in next week’s session.

Funds will come from last year’s surplus of P51.2 million, the realignments/reversion of funds at P25 million ad subsidies from the general fund at P9.7 million.

The city government will celebrate its 75th founding anniversary on Feb. 24.

About P25 million will fund infrastructure projects in barangay Apas and P10.9 million will go to payment of the city’s overdue accounts.

Of the proposed amount, about P32.6 million will go to personnel services.

Another P3,000 for the city’s anniversary bonus is already covered in the annual budget, City Budget Officer Nelfa Briones said. The anniversary bonus is given every five years./Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac