Tough sailing for Mayor Rama’s P267-M supplemental budget

The Cebu City Council posed more questions when it heard for the third time Mayor Michael Rama’s request for a second supplemental budget.

No approval was given yesterday.

Councilors Augustus Pe. Jr. asked why the mayor wants to realign the budget for the urban poor when there is a need to develop the city’s relocation sites to accommodate residents whose houses were demolished.

Vice Mayor Joy Young echoed Pe’s observation saying: “Our urban poor refuse to transfer to relocations sites because these are not developed, and yet the money for urban poor relocation site has been left unspent.”

Young said the city government has to double its efforts in developing relocation sites to provide an alternative site for evicted families.

He mentioned the 32 families recently evicted from barangay Luz for not paying their amortization for province-owned lots. The city failed to relocate immediately.

Pe said that even the P40 million city market fund could be used for the reconstruction of the Carbon Market unit II which was burned down.

The unspent DWUP funds worth P34 million, income from the city markets P40 million and city abattoir P35 million were listed as the fund sources of SB 2 lumped under “other sources.”

“This is in compliance with Department of Budget and Management mandate that all excess funds should form part of the general funds,” said City Treasurer Emma Villarete.

Villarete and her staff yesterday presented the breakdown of Supplemental Budget 2 and its sources of revenue (see table).

The City Council convened yesterday for another round of budget hearing to discuss the P267.8 million supplemental budget 2 requested by Mayor Rama.

Senior Citizens

If the council approves SB 2, the city government will be able to increase its assistance to each senior citizens to P7,000 this year.

A total of P3,000 for each senior citizen was released in mid 2012. The balance of P4,000 is scheduled for release in December.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, the council’s budget committee head, asked City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete, Assistant Budget Officer Marietta Gumia and City Accountant Diwa Cuevas to release ahead the cash aid to seven senior citizens who reached 100 years old, without having to wait for December.

“This should be a priority. We are now celebrating senior citizens month and it will be more significant if we give it this month also,” said Osmeña.

A city ordinance apauthorized the release of P100,000 cash assistance to centenarians on top of their annual cash gift from the city.

Gumia and Cuevas promised to look into the request.

Gumia said that P130 million remains from the P300 million senior citizen assistance outlay this year.