ZAMBOANGA MAYOR Beng Climaco has accused her political foes of delaying the approval of the 2021 Executive Budget as thousands of residents also signed manifestoes supporting the local government’s pro-poor programs, among others, included in the P4.38 billion annual financial plan.
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| Mayor Beng Climaco |
Under Section 323 of the Local Government Code
states that “if the Sanggunian concerned fails to pass an ordinance authorizing
the annual budget, it shall continue to hold sessions, until such ordinance is
approved and no other business may be taken up during such sessions. Basic rule
in statutory construction that where the language of the law is clear, it must
be applied according to its express terms.”
Politics
“Let us not mix politics into the discussion of
our budget because we are all accountable to the people we serve. Leave
politics to the elections in 2022. We must not deprive the people, the senior
citizens, the farmers, the fisherfolks, the sick, and the hungry the needed
support from the local government,” the mayor said.
She said the longer the City Council delays to
act on the approval of the budget - due to politicking by some quarters – the
greater the chances are that by next year, the
fiscal management of the City Government will be affected. “All these will have
a chain reaction of effects. El pobre y sale afectao amo mismo el maga
vivientes del Ciudad quien ta necesita el ayuda del govierno. Let us act
now,” she explained.
Climaco said the local
government submitted the budget to the City Council as early as September to
give legislators ample time to evaluate and pass it at the soonest time possible.
She said early approval of the budget by the City
Council would have been best for DBM’s review to ensure the local government
will not make disbursements that are disallowed or inoperative, or worst declare
the appropriations ordinance inoperative in its entirety resulting on re-enacted
budget next year.
Climaco has repeatedly appealed to the City
Council to consider the approval of the budget as a priority measure not only
because it was “certified urgent”, but it addresses the people's plight during
these extraordinary times brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a former Appropriations Chairperson in the
City Council from 2001-2004, Climaco said “I had done my duty to scrutinize,
question and conduct hearings on the budget but passed it on time.” She also
recalled that during her term in Congress as member of the Appropriations Committee
“we ensured the (national) budget was approved on time."
She said as a result of the budget’s delayed
approval, the allocated increase in subsidy of the 98 barangays for them to
respond to the pandemic will be greatly affected and hamper operations and
delivery of basic services.
Vida
Programs
The local chapter of the Federation of Senior
Citizens Association of the Philippines headed by its president, Elsa Natividad,
also urged members of the City Council to approve the budget, saying, the local
government’s various humanitarian programs for the elderly, particularly the
Largo Vida through its 400 hardworking lifeliners, provides not only social services,
but medicines and vitamins to thousands of senior citizens and vulnerable
members of the community.
The Largo Vida Program will get P187 million from
the budget and also part of the local government’s social services is the
“Ayuda La Vida Program,” which will have P65 million budget next year to
provide various sectors with livelihood programs, including those in the night
market and “ukay-ukay” stall owners.
On the other hand, the “Cuida Vida Program” or
Soup Kitchen Program will have P50 million allocation to cover mobile feeding
initiative in a bid to sustain the daily meals of the marginalized and most
affected families of the Covid-19 pandemic.
An allocation of P50 million is also included
in the budget for the “Salva Vida” Program which is intended to provide food
packs and hygiene kits to low-income families in disadvantaged rural and urban
communities in the different barangays. The proposed budget likewise allocates
P15 million for outreach programs to the 98 barangays, and P100 million for
socialized housing programs.
And P50
million for “Siembra Vida Program” intended to provide training, livelihood and
caravan projects, including activities of the agri-fishery sector; and a total
of P906 million for investments in infrastructure and developmental projects.
Climaco said the 2021 Executive Budget is a unique
configuration of fiscal plans which assimilate all the previously identified
needs of the City and the new challenges brought about by the pandemic. “This budget encompasses all of our
social and health-related needs during this crisis. It aims to feed the hungry
and heal the sick, hence let us listen to the needs of our people and find it
in our hearts to see that this is more than a fiscal plan – it is our roadmap
to health and recovery from the global challenge, that is Covid-19,” she
said.
She
said the Largo Vida Program includes some P26 million appropriated for the
“birthday” benefits of senior citizens and P1 million for octogenarians or
person who is from 80 to 89 years old; nonagenarians or those who are 90 to 99
years old; and centenarians or those who are 100 years old and above; and
another P5 million for people with disabilities (PWDs).
“Since
our society’s patriarchs and matriarchs are in need of these social protection
programs, now more than ever, as well as our PWDs and other vulnerable sectors,
we have included twenty-six million pesos million appropriation for the
birthday benefits of our elderly people, and one million pesos for the
Octogenarian, Nonagenarian and Centenarian; and five million (pesos) for PWDs,”
the mayor stressed.
“As
evident in our plans and programs, the beneficiaries of this budget are not
limited to a privileged few. This budget, by all intents and purposes, is
for all the compueblanos of Zamboanga because as the Mother of this City, I
will always be driven by my instinct to protect and nurture my children from
the economic turmoil and ill effects of this pandemic,” Climaco said.
And
because of that, Climaco said her administration provided the needed funding to
ensure surge capacity management of health personnel and health facilities. She
added that P112 million are provided in the budget for Covid-10 contact tracing
programs, and P14.7 million as additional aid to all barangays for Covid-19
related activities of their Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams; and P358
million for drugs and medicines, which includes P 200 million for the
procurement of coronavirus vaccines.
Climaco said there is also P42
million for the “Medicare Para Sa Masa Program” to increase PhilHealth
(Philippine Health Insurance Corporation) coverage and number of sponsored
members from 8,900 beneficiaries to 11,823; and P100 million for construction
and rehabilitation of hospitals and health centers plus P110 million for the
construction of multi-purpose buildings and P11 million more for the
construction of emergency quarantine facilities. She said the budget
included P12 million utility subsidy for 6,000 registered micro, small and
medium enterprises.
Supports
The mayor said the local
government continues to provide monthly allowances to about 7,812 public school
heads and teachers, and also 1,878 members of the Philippine National Police,
the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
“This is a simple token and in recognition of the valuable support and
contributions of our fellow public servants,” she said.
“Moreover, we have increased the
honoraria of 460 barangay health workers, 90 barangay nutrition scholars, 350
day-care workers and 980 barangay tanods from two thousand pesos to three
thousand pesos per month, since we acknowledge their courage and endless
dedication in their field,” Climaco explained.
Aside from those, the Climaco
administration also provides aid to non-government entities such as the Boy and
Girl Scouts of the Philippines, Philippine Red Cross, Cooperatives, drug
rehabilitation center, farmers and fisherfolks and even the Reception and Study
Center for Children, among others; and also to national government agencies –
litigation courts and national high schools and others. (Zamboanga Post)
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