CEBU CITY—Councilor Margot Osmeña has assailed the arrest order, issued by minority councilor Gerry Carillo, for city lawmakers belonging to the majority party for their failure to attend a special session after Christmas.
The session was called to pass the P8.5-billion budget proceeds of the sale of a 45.2-hectare property at the South Road Properties supposedly to fund the supplemental budget.
Osmeña said that when the Cebu City Council first deliberated the supplemental budget on Sept. 30, it was the minority councilors that deliberately walked out.
“Unfortunately, the minority [councilors]who had been remiss of their duties during the regular sessions decided to again dramatize SB1 [the first supplemental budget] while we were away. They chose to ignore the fact that calling for the approval of a supplementary budget just days before the start of the New Year and after the passage of the 2016 Regular Budget is at best a sick joke,” Osmeña said.
She said that even while the majority councilors used P1 million from the city’s calamity funds for their trip to Paris and were absent during regular sessions last December, the council was able to pass at least two important pieces of legislation: the second supplemental budget and the 2016 regular budget.
Osmeña claimed that there were various “self-serving SB1 insertions” that benefit the candidates allied with suspended Mayor Michael Rama. This included the advanced retirement pay for two Team Rama candidates totaling to P1,510,000.
Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella, who is identified with Rama, had requested the council to hold a special session after Christmas to address the supplemental budget issue.
Osmeña belongs to the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, a local party allied with the ruling Liberal Party, while the minority councilors are members of the Team Rama allied with the opposition United Nationalist Alliance.
On Dec. 9, Rama was slapped with a 60-day suspension by the Office of the President for purported abuse of authority for removing a cemented center island in Barangay Labangon.