Taxpayer questions Caloocan measures
A Caloocan City resident wants to stop two local measures for allegedly being railroaded by the council, including an ordinance granting a pay hike for government personnel working in the city.
Hilario Castro of Sangandaan, who said he was challenging the measures as a taxpayer, filed petitions questioning the legality of Ordinance 0491, (Series of 2013) and Resolution 2042 (Series of 2013).
The ordinance amends the city’s P3.85-billion budget allocation for this year to provide “additional monthly allowances and other benefits for judges, prosecutors, public school teachers and other national government agencies stationed or assigned in Caloocan City,” according to Castro’s petitions.
The resolution, on the other hand, confirms “all business transactions, contracts and obligations and agreements” entered into by outgoing Mayor Enrico Echiverri for implementation under the 2012 and 2013 budgets.
Both measures were passed during the council’s June 4 session.
Castro alleged that the council “suspended its internal rules of procedure” without any basis and passed the two measures after the elder Echiverri requested their immediate approval.
The two items were approved in just one session instead of going through the normal procedure which involves studies by a committee, public hearings and three readings, he added.
“(The) city councilors did not pass the assailed ordinance according to the procedure prescribed by the internal rules in this case. There was no public hearing on the matter, the ordinance was enacted without the required first, second and third reading, and any referral to the appropriate committee,” the petitioner said.
“The resolution illegally gave respondent [Mayor] Echiverri a blanket approval for his actions concerning the expenditure of public funds of Caloocan City. This is not allowed,” he stressed
“The city councilors confirmed and ratified the acts of respondent [Mayor] Echiverri regarding the implementation of the 2012 and 2013 budget without having studied each and every transaction,” it added.
The elder Echiverri, who was elected congressman in the May 13 elections, said he was ready to defend the measures in court.
“The council previously approved an ordinance giving barangays a share of the city’s business tax collections,” Echiverri said in an interview after gracing Independence Day rites at the Bonifacio Monument on Wednesday.
“But our local branch of the Commission on Audit reviewed it and said it was illegal, and that the funds should be reverted to the general fund. The ordinance appropriated those funds for them to be spent. Now it is their [petitioner’s] right to question these, and we will answer it in court,” he added.
