Finance panel skips council session anew

An executive session reserved by the Cebu City Council for the local finance committee was canceled after its members failed to show up yesterday.

In a letter to the council, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said they have prior commitments like attending to the victims of last Friday’s collision between the MV St. Thomas Aquinas and Sulpicio Express Siete.

“Also, the undersigned is tasked to meet the inspection team for the 2015 APEC summit starting today (yesterday) until tomorrow (today). This is an opportunity the city cannot afford to pass,” Poblete said.

Poblete’s assurance that he and other finance committee members “will make themselves available in the future” failed to appease the council, which sought to postpone the executive-legislative agenda meeting with Mayor Michael Rama.

The council said the ELA agenda meeting scheduled on Thursday and Friday will have to wait until the local finance committee meets with the City Council.

“Ignoring the council’s invitation is a dishonor and sign of disrespect,” Councilor Sisinio Andales said.

Rama said in a separate interview that there is no law which prohibits holding the ELA meeting pending compliance with the council’s condition for a local finance committee appearance.

A clearly irate Rama also questioned the council’s motive especially after former mayor and south district representative Tomas Osmeña placed a one page newspaper advertisement yesterday on the city’s “financial performance”.

Quoting the 2012 Annual Audit Report, Osmeña questioned the financial picture of the Cebu City Government in the ad which also mentioned that its publication was made “in the spirit of transparency”.

“Kana klaro na kaayo na. He (former mayor Osmena) is so in a hurry to come back. He already lost in the elections. He can’t wait for 2016? Shame on him,” Rama said in reference to the former mayor’s paid ad.

Rama added that the city is not bankrupt as being projected by his detractors. “We have money,” he said.

The Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) majority bloc in the City Council first invited the local finance committee to an August 14 public hearing to discuss the Commission on Audit (COA)’s Audit Observation Memorandum which mentioned of a possible overspending by Cebu City Hall of close to P1 billion.

In the absence of LFC members and city accountant Diwa Cuevas, the council rescheduled their appearance in an executive session yesterday.

The local finance committee consists of Poblete in his concurrent capacity as planning and development officer, acting treasurer Tessie Camarillo and budget officer Nelfa Briones.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, the council’s budget committee chairperson, questioned why Poblete mentioned about the ongoing rescue and relief operations for the families of passengers of the sunken ship MV St. Thomas of Aquinas.

“Does the city treasurer and the city accountant have to be at the rescue operations?,” she asked.

Osmeña said the council needs a briefing of the city’s finances in preparation for the marathon budget hearings in October.