SP Members deny
boycott accusation as their strong disapproval of the 2010 Budget
By GINA DEAN-RAGUDO, Samar
News.com
July
27, 2010
CALBAYOG CITY – Samar’s majority SP members blew up defending themselves from the
opposition’s accusations on the alleged boycott as an affirmation of
their persistent disapproval of the 2010 annual budget.
SP members Jimmy Dy
and Atty. Eunice Babalcon refuted the boycott issue. They clarified
that the absence of the majority during the previous sessions should
not be used as a pattern and basis of their conclusion.
“Nanlilingkod pa la
kami hadton July 1. May-ada mga indibidwal nga hinungdan kay kon ano
nga waray makag-atender an kada tagsa ha amon. Pakianhe anay an
previous governor kay tig-3 kabulan iton hiya nga diri nagsusulodsulod
han iya panahon,” Dy said. (We just took our office last July 1. Each
member of the SP has personal reason why he/she was not able to attend
the previous sessions. Why didn’t you ask the previous governor as she
had been out from the session for 3 straight months during her time?)
Accordingly, the 2010
budget would be the source of the “25 thousand productivity
enhancement incentive” of the province’s more or less 1 thousand
employees which took effect on January 1 this year.
“Pamati ko han
pag-apura, pwede pa magsakripisyo ha kadali.
Pero
inagi na an 9 katuig, nakaghulat man hira! Ano man an nahimo han 9
katuig? Paraffle? An 9 katuig, an tig 2 ngadto 5 ka kilo nga bugas? An
pagpapirma blangko nga papel han mga barangay kapitan? Siguro mailob
niyo ngada han pag-aprub han budget. Siguro ginsaaran kamo tigpira
kasako nga semento… 50-100. Iton ba sigurado nga mahingangadto han mga
taga barangay? Pakiana, kadamo san mga taga barangay nga hasta yana
may mga semento pa, mga semento nga nagbagtik. Now, ungay kita han
pag-aprubar komo magbaralaud. Natugot ka nga mahingangadto an sugad
hini nga pundo? Tikang iton diin nga pundo? Di ba tikang ha gobyerno?
So kinahanglan aton himay-himayon. Waray ako magngaran kon
hino an naghatag san semento. Waray ako magngaran kon hino an
kumarawat han semento. An aton la, mahingangadto ba han tama an buwis
nga ginbabayad ni Juan dela Cruz ngadto han gugti nga mga tawo dida
han mga kaburubarangayan”, board member Coñejos likewise explained.
Through a press
conference last Thursday at the session hall of Samar Capitol,
Majority Floor Leader Charlie Coñejos finally broke his silence
together with other board members and answered all the allegations
imputed against them by other media group in Catbalogan City.
“Waray sadto matratar
an budget kay waray man sa agenda.
Ug yana
la nga Huwebes maagenda.
Maaram na an daan nga
mga board members san deperensya. Mayda liwat nakita an mga bag-o nga
board members. Gutiay la nga sakripisyo. Adman anay an budget antes
aprubahan. Baga daw la kami an stamping pad,” said Conejos. (The
budget was not deliberated before because it was not included in the
agenda; and only this Thursday that the budget has been included in
the agenda. The former board members were already aware of its defect,
and the new board members have also ascertained it. We’re appealing
for a little sacrifice. Allow us to scrutinize first the budget before
approving it. Otherwise we would be like stamping pad.)
Babalcon, the only
lady member of the legislative body clarified that the approval of the
budget without a thorough scrutiny would not in any way be helping the
province. Just like in the previous administration where the budget
did not undergo an in-depth legislative procedure, there were doubtful
appropriations in every department which affected the implementation
of the programs and projects of the province.
“Why would we take
part on a budget which we believed has never served our people in
Samar? Why would we take part when there are so many questionable
items that we want to raise? The budget presented before this body was
the same budget prepared by the former governor. It’s the same old
system, same items in the budget that they want us to approve. They’re
bringing out the issue that why are we prolonging the agony of the
employees? My question is, why are they using the employees just so
they can make it leverage for us to approve the budget? From past
experience, the budget has not helped the poor Samarenos. It never
happened,” bared Babalcon.
Babalcon challenged
the new governor, Sharee Ann Tan to present a new budget. She might
end up reconsidering it should there be changes and clarifications on
some items listed in the 2010 annual budget. As part of a legislative
procedure, one of the best solutions in order to resolve the issue
(i.e. double funding) is to call the attention of every department and
verify from them what they would want to consider for funding. As the
body is advocating for transparency, everyone is encouraged to attend,
to participate and be held accountable. That in a way would forestall
the idea of constantly blaming the board members when it comes to
ineffective implementation.
Once there is already
a legislative authority granted to the local chief executive,
everything that is there in the budget is within her disposal for
implementation. That is precisely the reason why we are scrutinizing
it. The Commission on Audit has failed for the past 9 years to do
their job, Babalcon disclosed.
Atty. Jasper Sumagang
seconded and agreed to the idea that the budget should undergo a
regular legislative process by referring it through a committee
hearing. He said that the approval of the budget would not solve the
problem of Samar. By scrutinizing it and ensuring that the people would
benefit up to the last centavo.
Budget and
Appropriations Chair Noel Sermense opined that the budget should have
been referred to Committees on Budget Review and Laws. Under the law,
it should be submitted on October 16 of the fiscal year, but it was
only on February 25, 2010 that said budget was submitted to the August
body. The failure of the SP to enact the budget within 90 days has led
to utilize the reenacted budget of 2008. The 2009 unapproved budget
should be refiled this year; but with the new administration, a
revised budget should be submitted.
Sermense also said
that the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) should be passed ahead of the budget after a consensus with
the stakeholders.
The 2010 annual budget
of Samar is 1.18 billion pesos.
Before the conference
ended, Coñejos reiterated by saying, “diri paralisado an probinsya!
May-ada kita budget. Reenacted budget. Nahimo la ugaring nga samok ini
nga budget, nga gindidinukdok kami kay ada ginbutang an kanan mga
empleyado umento. Kay ada an ira mga proyekto, di ba? Pero ayaw kami
niyo pirita nga aprubahan an budget. Hunahunaon ta nga nangangalingkod
pala an mga bag-o nga board members. Kakan-o? Hulyo 1.”
Indeed, SP members
admitted that the copy of the budget has been distributed only on the
day of the session; and they observed that the signatory was still the
former governor, Milagrosa Tan.
*Listen to the Press Conference
podcast
