TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan—Tuao Mayor Francisco N. Mamba Jr., Cagayan Chapter President of The League of Municipalities of the Philippines, and the 24 mayors in the province have signed a resolution urging the Provincial Board to approve the 2017 annual budget.
Mamba Jr., also a lawyer, said the provincial board should consider the plea of the local executives for the passage of the province’ annual budget, since “Cagayanos will benefit from the programs and projects to be implemented by the provincial government.”
“Put people first and set aside personal political affiliation,” Mamba Jr. stressed.
The resolution itself signed by the local leaders “is a clear manifestation that the populace in the province are being deprived of the services while the annual budget has not been passed,” the mayor added.
Despite belonging to different political parties, 25 of the 28 mayors of Cagayan recently signed the resolution in support of the CAGANDA (Cagayan Development Agenda) of Governor Manuel Mamba, who belongs to the opposition Liberal Party and is the Tuao mayor’s brother.
Mamba Jr. said the mayors believe in the governor’s developmental agenda.
In a resolution, the Cagayan mayor’s league said all the 16 mayors present during an En Banc Meeting of the Provincial Development Council had approved the Provincial Development Investment Program.
“The Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s inaction on the budget results in the unnecessary delay in the implementation of essential programs, projects and activities. This is a disservice to the people of Cagayan,” the resolution said.
Among the proposed projects in the CAGANDA are the No Barangay/No Town Left Behind Program, which would give P500,000 each to the 820 barangays in the province per year, and P3 million to the 28 municipalities and Tuguegarao each year; the erection of the Nassiping-Dungao Bridge that connects adjacent towns and barangays in western Cagayan; the concreting of more than 100 kilometers of provincial roads; and better services for the district hospitals that would cater to Cagayanos, among others.
The PDIP is a planning document that identifies and ranks priority projects, programs and activities that shall be undertaken with the Provincial Government over a period.
