City Council sets special session

Unfazed by the mayor’s objections to deep budget cuts, the Cebu City Council will convene tomorrow for a special session to discuss his “partial veto.”

A two-thirds vote to override Mayor Michael Rama’s veto is easily  achieved since the council is dominated by his critics.

“How do you veto items that no longer exist in the 2012 budget?” asked Councilor Jose Daluz III in an interview.

“This is the first time that a city mayor exercised partial veto of a budget ordinance.  As far as I am concerned, he can’t  veto items that are not found in the budget,” Daluz told Cebu Daily News.

Rama singled out these deletions:

1. Reconstruction of Sewage Treatment Plant in the North Reclamation Area (P20 million)

2. Rehabilitation of the Cebu City Police Office (P10 million)

3. Medical, dental and laboratory equipment

4. Construction of the Pasil Fish Port (10 million)

He also challenged the council’s decision to have a P400-million outlay for financial aid to barangay projects “released directly to the barangays strictly in accordance with the sharing and distribution as specified.”

The mayor said the allocation per barangay is “purely an executive function, which the Sanggunian may not arrogate unto itself.”

A proposed P11.8-billion budget was reduced to P5.2 billion by the council, which said  a “bare bones approach” was more realistic than passing a huge budget with unclear sources of revenue.

In his Dec. 29 letter returning the budget ordinance, Mayor Rama said the council was acting “ultra vires” or beyond its legal power in a way that was “prejudicial” to public welfare.

He said that under the Local Government Code, the council may increase or decrease a budget item proposed by the executive, but that the authority does not included deleting it.

“After all the the authority to determine priorities in the utilization of the budget is vested in the Executive,” he wrote.

Budget Ordinance No. 2301 will be submitted for standard review by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in Manila.

Holganza said that even if the DB concurs with Rama’s line veto, the national agency could not compel the council to approve the vetoed items.

“The council cannot be compelled to adopt the DBM recommendation.  But we can again discuss the budget and see if there is reason to consider the DBM recommendation,” he said.

Daluz, a lawyer and past chairman of the council budget committee for six years, said the DBM would have to declare the budget null and void to stop its implementation.

If it goes this far, the council can raise the matter to court.

Vice Mayor Young, who earlier said the council was ready to override a veto, said Rama’s argument shows he didn’t do his “homework.”

“We (the council) did not delete. We just authorized up to P5.2 billion (in expenses) this year because we are not really sure  he can raise the whole amount of P11.8 billion as originally proposed,” he said.

Councilor Margot Osmeña, budget committee chairperson, said supplemental budgets can be passed by the council later if the mayor and the executive department can raise more funds. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters