Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay used her power and authority to compel opposition councilors to attend special sessions in a bid to finally resolve the city’s long-delayed 2019 budget.
Binay called on members of the Council to hold special sessions set on Jan. 29 and 31, and on Feb. 1 as the city’s policy-making body failed to act on the budget after 10 councilors, who reportedly supports the political comeback bid of Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr., refused to attend Wednesday’s session.
The younger Binay is going against her sister Abigail in the city’s mayoral race this May 13 midterm election.
The 10 councilors who did not attend the session last Wednesday were Shirley Aspillaga, Grazielle Iony de Lara-Bes, Ferdinand Eusebio, Leonardo Magpantay, Romeo Medina, Nelson Pasia, Arlene Ortega, Mary Ruth Tolentino, Marie Alethea Casal-Uy, and Evelyn Delfina Villamor.
Only Majority Floor Leader Councilor Nemesio Yabut, Jr., and Councilor Divina Jacome, chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations and Budget, and five councilors who belong to the minority were present.
As a result, there was no quorum for the Council to deliberate on the 2019 budget, which includes appropriations for salary increases of local government workers and additional benefits for senior citizens.
Armand Padilla, one of the five councilors in the minority, described the absence of the opposition (councilors) as a “boycott” and reminded them of their “sworn duty to attend the sessions.”
In her memorandum to all city councilors, Mayor Binay cited Section 52 (b) of the Local Government Code of 1991 (R.A. 7160) which empowers the local chief executive to call for special sessions of the Sanggunian “when public interest so demands.”
The city chief executive also signed another memorandum on Jan. 22 certified as “urgent” Draft Ordinance No. 2018-064, which appropriates the 2019 Executive Budget of the city government amounting to P18.17 billion.
The proposed Appropriation Ordinance has been pending since it was first calendared on Oct. 24 last year.
Council’s presiding officer Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo expressed her frustration over the continued delay in the approval of the budget.
“The councilors in the opposition know full well that the ability of the city government to deliver efficient and effective services to our constituents is on the line, and yet they have shown no sense of urgency at all,” Lagdameo stated.
The vice mayor called on the city councilors to heed the call of the local chief executive to act on the Appropriation Ordinance with dispatch. Otherwise, she said, they would be guilty of dereliction of duty, thus “doing a great disservice to the people of Makati.”
Councilor Maria Concepcion Yabut, minority floor leader, reminded the councilors who were not present that passage of the 2019 city budget was “a very urgent matter.”
Councilor Virgilio “Jhong” Hilario, Jr. concurred with Yabut, stating that the delay in budget approval has been affecting many people, including city hall employees. He said that a P500 to P1,000 salary increase would still mean a lot for employees and their families, noting it would be enough to buy several kilos of rice.
“They elected us so we could help them, not cause them more burden,” he said.
Councilor Luis Javier, Jr. also cited other adverse consequences of the delayed budget approval. He said the city could not act promptly on the requests of residents in a number of barangays for more doctors to be deployed to their health centers.
“We could not hire doctors now even if there are applicants because we are hampered by the non-approval of the budget.”
The chairman of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation of Makati, Councilor Rodolfo San Pedro, Jr., said he shared the sentiments of his fellow minority councilors.
He announced that the SK has been without budget for six months, and all SK councils in the city have been unable to implement anything. He said it was about time they passed the city budget so they could all start to function as they should.
Earlier, Lagdameo and members of the minority bloc decried the “inordinate” and “protracted” delay in the approval of the Appropriation Ordinance.
The failure of the Sanggunian to enact said ordinance until its last session on December 19, 2018 has constrained the city government to operate on a temporary budget, limited by law to salaries and wages of existing positions, statutory and contractual obligations, and essential operating expenses authorized in the annual and supplemental budgets for the preceding year.
Negative ramifications of a reenacted budget include, among others, non-implementation of the fourth tranche of the salary increases under the Salary Standardization Law; no new programs, projects, and activities can be implemented; and no creation of new positions, no matter how vital these may be to public service.
For instance, the planned hiring of new doctors for barangay health centers and Ospital ng Makati at the beginning of the year cannot be implemented, denying residents of more convenient and efficient health services.
According to the city Budget Department, several programs, projects, and activities scheduled for the first quarter of the year, with an estimated total budget of over P200 million, cannot be implemented while the budget approval remains pending.
As a result, various departments and offices cannot perform many of their mandated functions which redound to the benefit of the city residents and other stakeholders.
Under Section 323 of the Local Government Code of 1991, in case the Sanggunian concerned fails to pass the ordinance authorizing the annual appropriations at the beginning of the ensuing fiscal year, it shall continue to hold sessions, without additional remuneration for its members, until such ordinance is approved, and no other business may be taken up during such sessions.
If the Council still fails to enact such ordinance after 90 days from the beginning of the fiscal year, the ordinance authorizing the appropriations of the preceding year shall be deemed reenacted and shall remain in force and effect until the ordinance authorizing the proposed appropriations is passed.
However, only the annual appropriations for salaries and wages of existing positions, statutory and contractual obligations, and essential operating expenses authorized in the annual and supplemental budgets for the preceding year shall be deemed reenacted and disbursement of funds shall be in accordance therewith.