Thus lamented City Mayor Ace Manalang during a meeting with the Association of Barangay Captains at the Events Place here Thursday morning.
Manalang said majority of the members of the sangguniang panglungsod headed by Vice Mayor Ann Belmonte who are all of the Liberal Party and Nationalist Peoples Coalition have caused the delay of the budget and thus held the implementation of the priority projects of the city government.
During the said meeting attended by barangay officials, health workers, day care teachers, senior citizens, businessmen and other sectors, Manalang explained that the SP did not pass the 2015 budget, thus preventing the release of the 20 percent Development Fund for the projects in the villages.
The SP questioned the P1.2-billion proposed budget submitted by Manalang saying it is “bloated.”
“Noong una sabi nila kung pwede bawasan namin ng P100 million, pumayag na nga ako para maipasa lang nang maaga yong budget, tapos sabi na naman bawasan daw ulit ng P70 million, aba! di na ako pumayag kasi ang pondong yon ang gagamitin ko sa mga mahahalagang proyekto para sa lungsod,” Manalang stressed.
Aside from delaying the budget, the opposition was also scored by Manalang for going around the barangays “spreading lies and misleading the people in their real objective.”
“They even questioned the Department of Interior and Local Government for awarding Seal of Good Housekeeping to the city government saying we do not deserve it, but the DILG said that the award was the result of their thorough evaluation together with the Commission on Audit on how the fund was being utilized by a particular local government unit,” Manalang revealed.
“Kaya po tayo nakakuha ng ganong award dahil nakita po ng DILG at COA na maayos nating napapamahalaan ang pondo ng syudad kaya ang mga akusasyon na ibinabato nila sa atin ay pawang mga kasinungalingan lamang,” he added.
Manalang said that the other day, he wrote a letter to the DILG requesting them to intervene in the problem of the city government with the SP’s non-passing of the budget, saying such act is against the law.
As of now, the city government makes do with the 2014 budget to meet its primary expenses including salaries of the permanent and casual employees and the day to day operation of the city. But the salary of the new casual employees as well as the job order employees are still “hanging in the air.”
