WHILE ZAMBOANGA slowly adapts to the new norm amid the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Beng Climaco bared that the local economy has suffered most from the effect of the Covid-19 that also displaced at least 46,000 people here.
Climaco, citing an economic report by Rodrigo Sicat, the local government’s planning and development coordinator, said since March at the start of the pandemic up to the present, the economy lost about P7 billion.
“Now, our economic losses have reached around P7 billion and 46,000 people were displaced by the pandemic, and the number will grow to become part of what we call informal sector,” she said.
In anticipation of these losses, Climaco said her administration allocated certain amount in the 2021 Executive Budget for livelihood programs and recovery efforts for those affected by the pandemic.
However, the P4.38-billion budget remains in the hands of the opposition councilors who have not - up to now - acted and approved the local government’s annual financial plan and putting at risk or delay vital pro-poor projects and programs.
Climaco said the
budget is a unique configuration of fiscal plans which assimilate all the
previously identified needs of Zamboanga and the new challenges brought about
by the pandemic.
She deplored the
opposition’s delayed approval of the budget even as she reminded legislators
that under the Local Government Code, the Department of Budget and Management
has only 90 days period within which to review the appropriations ordinance to
ensure its compliance with the budgetary requirements and general limitations.
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.”
“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
opposition councilors fail to act on the approval of the budget due to
politicking, 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.
Aside from economic losses, she said Zamboanga
is also grappling with incidents of suicides due to the pandemic. Climaco said there were 20 cases of suicides since early this year.
“We are sad over
the number of suicide incidents due to frustrations as a result of Covid-19,
but as mayor of Zamboanga City together with the department heads and 98
barangays, we do everything possible to help alleviate the plight of our
people, especially during these trying times of the pandemic. There is hope in
our efforts in God’s grace,” the mayor said.
City Health
Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite attributed these incidents to many factors,
including stress due to the current health crisis. “With what is happening
right now due to the pandemic, this contributes to our stress. Those who cannot
cope with or handle the stress well get depressed and some of them commit
suicide,” Miravite said.
Climaco said
she has ordered the City Health Office to formulate a mental
health program and for the City Budget Office to fund the project following the
rising number of suicides here.
The mayor said mental health program is important, especially during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our local government requested the City Budget Office to study the program together with our mental health professionals,” she said.
Climaco said a team of medical officers from the City Health Office and other agencies have already met and will come up with a program addressing mental health issues. “We are concerned with everybody’s mental health and mental health awareness is very important and we need to raise the collective consciousness about mental health,” she said. (Zamboanga Post)
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