Sino ang Salarin sa Pagbagsak ng Dagupan?

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA, MPA

Kahit na tumatakbo sa 2022 reenacted budget ang local government unit (LGU) ng Dagupan City dahil naabutan siya ng prescriptive period ng March 31, 2023 para mapirmahan ni Mayor Belen T. Fernandez ang ni vetoed na 2023 P1.3 billion budget, walang nagbabawal na e refile ng mga allies niya sa Minority Bloc sa Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) ang original 2023 proposed budget. Ito ay puwede nilang gawin kahit hanggang matapos ang taon na ito.

Ang problema: Ipapasa kaya ng Majority Bloc ng opposition solons sa SP ang refiled annual appropriation budget?

THE BELEGUERED Dagupan City Mayor Belen T. Fernandez (left photo) whose governance is dominated by the oppostion lawmakers headed by Councilors Red-Erfe Mejia and Celia Lim. Lim is the matriarch of the political family's Lim whose late husband Benjie and son Brian have been mayor of the coastal city, political nemesis and business rival of Mayor Fernandez.

Kamakailan tinanong ng reporter si Mayor Belen kung e oblige siya ng pitong dominanting opposition members, dubbed na Magic -7, na sa pamamagitan ng quid pro quo (sa mga empleyado ni Malabanan Septic Tank na nagbabasa nitong Tagalog column ko, ibig sabihin ay “something for something”) na ilatag sa kanila ang mga  pangalan at sueldo ng almost 1,900 job order employees (JOEs), barangay health workers at iba pa. Ito’y mariin niyang sinagot na HINDI.

Pag nagkataon iyan ang elephant in the room na naging burr in the blanket, the pebble in the shoe, or the albatross around the neck of Dagupenos ngayon at sa kinabukasan.

Itong elepante (idiom ng “controversial issue that is obvious”) ang dahilan na hindi na aprobahan ang original 2023's P1.3 billion dahil gusto ng oposisyon na ipakita muna ni Mayor ang mga pangalan ng mga JOEs and others dahil nagsususpetsa sila at mga supporters nila na may mga   tinatago si mayor na mga hao-shiao o fake o ghost workers sa mga JOEs and others.

Dahil diyan tinapyas at ginawang P864.9 million ang P1.3 billion ng mga Councilors na pinangungunahan ng pet peeve Dad ni Mayor na si Red Erfe-Mejia – ang Chairman ng Committee of Finance at Budget and Appropriations.

Ang sabi ng mga apologists at supporters ni Mayor Belen napaka-walanghiya naman nitong mga majority Councilors, walang nakasaad sa Local Government Code, sa manual ng Department of Budget and Management at kahit pa sa dyaryong pinambabalot ng mga tindera ng tinapa sa Malimgas Market na kailangan na ipakita ang mga pangalan ng mga job order workers.

Ito ang tugon ko where I would quote my retort to my friendly exchanges recently with one of the intellectual and illustrious sons of the Bangus City sa Facebook.

“Not every requirement needed by the Sanggunian Panlungsod should be provided by the statute because it goes against the brevity of the law. But the Local Government Code - the Bible of the LGU like Dagupan City - backed up the members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP). It states on Section 455 paragraph IV: ... The City Mayor...provide such information and data needed or requested by said sanggunian in the performance of its legislative functions".

Mayor Belen did not provide the names of the J.Os thus her budget was slashed by the solons. If it is illegal the Mayor had questioned that in court and the court had issued an injunction or mandamus against the lawmakers. But she did not because she knows the law is on the side of the SP,” sinabi ko kay Professor Nick Melecio.

Dahil hindi naman na aksiyunan ng mga Solons ang veto ni Mayor, puwersado siyang gamitin ang watered down na 2022 P1.380 billion reenacted budget dahil naabutan na siya ng March 31 –prescriptive period as mandated by the Local Government Code.

Kahit na sinabi lately ng regional office ng DBM na inoperative ang P864.9 dahil P16 million ang nakaligtaang ilagay ng mga dominant Dads na mga estimate na projects galing sa national tax allotment (NTA), ang precursor ng internal revenue allotment (IRA) galing sa Imperial Manila Government, ito ay huli na dahil – to risk being redundant - naabutan sila ng katapusan ng buwan ng Marso.

“If the Sanggunian still fails to enact such ordinance after ninety (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 by the Sanggunian concerned,” iyan ang sabi ng Section 323 ng Republic Act 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991) para di niyo sabihin na nagtatahi ako dito ng mga pinagku-quote ko dito anak na lasi kayo, sabi nila sa Pangalatok, este, sa Pangasinense hehehe!

 

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Kahit sabihin natin ang 2022 budget ay P1.380 billion at mas malaki sa proposed 2023 P1.3 billion at P864.9 slashed 2023 appropriation, hindi lahat ito ay magagamit ng Fernandez Administration.

Mga bawal pag tumatakbo ang isang LGU sa reenacted budget:

No ordinance authorizing supplemental appropriations shall be passed in place of the annual appropriations.

·         There will be no creation of positions, no filling of positions, no new programs, projects and no activities for the Fernandez Administration (Nagtataka ako dito. Dalawang beses na itong ni file ng mga minority councilors kahit na pinagbabawal ito ng batas dahil kailangan maipasa muna ang 2023 budget).

·         The increase in the internal revenue allotment (IRA) allocation for this year 2023 cannot be utilized since the same is not covered by an appropriation ordinance.

·         Non-recurring activities (national aids, proceeds from loans, sale of assets, prior year adjustments and others) cannot be undertaken NO MATTER HOW VITAL THEY MAY BE (emphasis mine).

·         The twenty-percent (20%) Development or Infrastructure Fund – for government buildings, roads, others -  is not included. If half of the P1.380 is P690 million and was from the internal revenue allotment (they called it now as national tax allotment (NTA)) where the 20% of the Development Fund is computed, then the city loses P138 million this year for infras.

·            In the implementation of such reenacted ordinance, the local treasurer shall exclude from the estimates of income last year those realized from nonrecurring sources like national aids, proceeds from loans, sale of assets, prior year adjustments and other analogous sources of income.

 Sa mga nagbabasa kung tayo ay “going to the dogs’ in Dagupond (kasi laging nalulunod sa baha) sino ang salarin, este, ang may kasalan dito sa pagsalaula sa mahal nating Bangus City?

Is it the immovable Mayor Belen F. or the unstoppable Magic -7?

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

It’s the U.S not the Colombians that destroyed Escobar

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

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I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.