Shouting, finger pointing over Bohol town’s 2025 budget greets first session

INQUIRER FILES

UBAY, Bohol — A heated argument greeted the first regular session of the year of the Ubay municipal council in Bohol.

The root of the conflict was the proposed P451-million budget for the municipality for 2025.

Shouting and pointing of fingers took place during the session held on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

The 2025 annual budget has not been approved and was still being debated.

Vice Mayor Victor Bonghanoy, the presiding officer, opposed approving the P451-million peso budget this year because of “suspicious allocation of budget.”

He said he wanted to study it further because of the questionable items in the budget.

Bonghanoy said the questionable budget included the Ubay Community College, road concreting and waterworks systems were suspicious.

He also blamed Councilor Nador Vallecera, who failed to conduct a committee hearing, which Vallecera denied.

Councilor Christopher Villadores said that if there were suspicions of irregularities, he and his colleagues were willing to compromise.

Councilors Luis Rutol and Villadores had asked to divide the house for voting, but Bonghanoy refused.

On Nov. 19, 2024, Vallecera, vice chairman of the committee on appropriation and finance, had asked Bonghanoy to review the annual budget calendar for legislative enactment.

The council has advanced the approval of the budget several times but Bonghanoy also refused to rule on it or take action.

Lawyer Karen Ann Beniga, municipal local government operations officer of Ubay, told the council members, especially Bonghanoy, to follow the parliamentary procedure in discussing the disputed 2025 annual budget that has not yet been approved.

She also reminded Bonghanoy not to monopolize the discussion in the session.

Beniga also suggested that the SB divide the house to clarify who is in favor and against the approval of the P450-million 2025 annual budget.

If an annual budget is not approved, the budget from the previous year is usually reenacted.

This means that the budget from the previous year remains in effect until the new budget is passed.

New programs, projects, and activities cannot be created under a reenacted budget.

Ubay, a first class municipality, has 86,000 residents.