Budget squabbles

When all is said and done, Cebu City officials will have no one to blame but one another for the  loss of the P50 million funding for anti-poverty programs from the national government.

The failure of Cebu City Hall to draft and submit a Local Poverty Reduction Plan (LPRAP) only  reflected the bitter  dealings between officials identified with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) and  Team Rama, only this time the feud went down to the level of  barangays and non-government  organizations.

According to groups identified with the BO-PK, the Rama administration took its sweet time deliberating on the action plan and rejected the proposal they and other groups drafted to come out with their own proposal which the Department of Interior and Local Governments (DILG) rejected.

The agency said the proposal the city government drafted under the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) didn’t follow guidelines and wasn’t handled by the elected facilitator, Cathy Ruiz of the Center for Participatory Governance.

Groups identified with the Rama administration then blamed the BO-PK for everything. In an unsigned press statement, two groups who voiced support for Rama said  the whole process in applying for the P50 million anti-poverty fund  was manipulated by the BO-PK.

They pointed to the presence of DILG Undersecretary Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez, loyal lieutenant and former city administrator during the term of Tomas Osmeña ayor, as proof that the consultation, planning and drafting of the proposal to avail of the anti-poverty funding was already rigged so to speak.

How many times do  Cebu City residents have to suffer the  bickering and maneuvering of contra-partido camps  in budgets  for services intended for the public?

The same tug-of-war happens during the annual local government budget planning and the annual investments plan.

Each side tries to advance their own agenda, like the now dubious flyover projects whose viability as a traffic solution was questioned by civil society groups and urban planners.

If one were to ask  Osmeña and Rama, the all-too-obvious solution would be  be to kick out the opposing camp and elect their own people to public office on May 13.

This would seem to  allow uninterrupted, opposition-free approval of their pet projects and programs.

Cebu City residents know better.

If all it takes to end the endless budget wars is to elect the right people to office, then so be it. But voters should  choose candidates who are willing to work with others regardless of their political affiliation, have a clear  vision of  sustainable growth in Cebu City  and share a commitment to serve city residents with zero personal agenda.

Easier said than done, but Cebu City residents have the rest of the week to make their choices.