Health budget slashed!

ZAMBOANGA COUNCILORS allied with politician Celso Lobregat has slashed the proposed budget of the City Health Office from P180 million to only P80 million and this will greatly impact various health programs of the local government especially this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Councilor Pinpin Pareja.

Pareja made this revelation during an interview with TV 11 and said the health budget proposed by the local government has passed a rigid review, but the opposition nonetheless tinkered with the Executive Budget.

Mayor Beng Climaco, who is running for congresswoman in District 1, has asked the councilors, especially those with the group of Lobregat and Rep. Mannix Dalipe, to support and approved the budget, instead of “politicizing” the funding intended for the welfare, security and health of the Zamboangueños.

Climaco has previously asked the support of the City Council to provide a wider coverage of RT-PCR testing in response to the clamor of the public. Residents and travellers have urged the local government to provide free or subsidize RT-PCR tests which cost between P2,000 to P5,000. 

“It may not be necessarily a free-for-all grant, but at least with a wider coverage than the present free RT-PCR test given to those with Covid-19 symptoms, suspected and positive cases only,” the mayor said. 

She said her proposal to the City Council for free RT-PCR testing is subject to the availability of test kits and once the local molecular laboratory is approved and becomes operational. Climaco said she also ordered the City Health Office and the City Budget Office to come up with the policy in conformity with the guidelines set by the Department of Health and the Red Cross. 

Opposition councilors have also reduced the budgets of the different departments, including the Office of the City Mayor, only to introduce their own version of the Executive Budget and probably use them in their political campaign.

Politics

Last year, council members also opposed the annual budget and removed a huge chunk of funding intended for various pro-poor programs of the Climaco administration. They even trashed Climaco’s pro-poor Vida Programs which benefited tens of thousands of residents, especially the most vulnerable in the community.

Climaco has previously blamed the Lobregat and Dalipe councilors for “killing” all the Vida Programs after they removed vital funding in the Executive Budget.  One such project under the program was the Largo Vida, an initiative that Climaco started in 2018 and which she originally intended to expand to over 60,000 beneficiaries.

The mayor identified the opposition councilors as John Dalipe, BG Guingona, Mike Alavar, Litlit Macrohon, Khymer Olaso, Lilibeth Nuño, Cary John Pioc, VP Elago, Gerky Valesco, Jerry Perez and Monsi dela Cruz, who is now deceased. Dela Cruz and the younger Dalipe ran under Climaco’s political party, but eventually broke off ties with the mayor after winning the 2019 polls. 

For the Poor

Former beneficiaries of the Vida program also blamed the opposition for the demise of the project. Even now they are still hoping that the Vida program would resurrect. 

Climaco said the Vida program was really aimed at creating a more lasting and meaningful impact on the lives of all its beneficiaries. “We need to empower our people and create a more lasting and meaningful impact on their lives, their families and communities. Deseo de atun todo dale mas largo y buen vida na de atun maga abuelo y abuela na Ciudad de Zamboanga,” she said.

“It is with deep regret that (opposition) majority of the members of the City Council resolutely removed vital appropriations in the FY (Fiscal Year) 2021 Executive Budget of the City Government of Zamboanga. Very important social services programs such as the Largo Vida, Salva Vida and Cuida Vida, which could have benefited senior citizens, low income families, disadvantaged communities, marginalized sectors, most affected families of the Covid-19 pandemic and other vulnerable members of society, were unfoundedly scrapped,” she added.

Climaco said the actions of the Lobregat and Dalipe allies in the City Council affected some 17,000 senior citizens and all 400 “Vida lifeliners,” including women and those who are out-of-school and mostly breadwinners of their families, who were tapped to tirelessly deliver health assistance door-to-door to every elderly beneficiaries of the Largo Vida.

“These (Vida) programs were carefully planned by the Executive Department to be sustainable and to introduce a trailblazing brand of service to our constituents that is projected to have a significant impact in the lives of the target beneficiaries. These programs cannot be replaced by mere dole-outs and cash donations that were not studied and haphazardly thought-out. Those (opposition council) members who voted to remove funding for such vital programs must face the people of Zamboanga City and must be held responsible and accountable for such irrepressible action,” she said.

“It is not just cash that is needed, we need a more comprehensive program that will genuinely and sustainably empower our people through medicines, access to critical social services and livelihood to make our people resilient and survive the day to day challenges while we are under a pandemic. Necesita kita dale servicio de calidad because our people deserve only the best,” the mayor added.

It is only during the time of Climaco that such pro-poor programs and social services benefitted thousands of senior citizens and the vulnerable sector. 

“It is only during our administration that we were able to introduce a wide-range of social services to our senior citizens – birthday cash incentives, free maintenance medicines, free movie screening and other key forms of assistance. We intend to expand these to a more comprehensive package, not only for our senior citizens, but also social packages for other vulnerable sectors especially for our society’s patriarchs and matriarchs, PWDs (persons with disabilities) and other vulnerable sectors, the marginalized, low-income families in disadvantaged rural and urban communities and most affected families of the Covid-19 pandemic, who are in need of these social protection programs, now more than ever,” Climaco said.

Climaco last year also accused opposition councilors of delaying the approval of the 2021 Executive Budget even as thousands of residents also signed manifestos supporting the local government’s pro-poor programs, among others, included in the P4.38 billion annual financial plans. “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 fisherfolk, the sick, and the hungry the needed support from the local government,” the mayor said.

“Those (opposition councilors) members who voted to remove funding for such vital programs, must face the people of Zamboanga City and must be held responsible and accountable for such irrepressible action. When I signed (Budget) Ordinance No. 741, it is with deep sadness that I bear in mind the thousands and thousands of constituents who shall be deprived of these vital social services programs.  There are certain line items in the appropriations ordinance which need to be vetoed for either being ultra vires and or are prejudicial to the public welfare,” she added. 

Popular

Climaco, a multi-awarded politician, remains popular among residents.

In 2018, Climaco was chosen as among “Top 5 World’s Best Mayors” by the prestigious City Mayors Foundation. She was named along with Valeria Mancinelli, Mayor of Ancona, Italy who is the Winner of the 2018 World Mayor Prize; Ros Jones, Mayor of Doncaster, UK; Nathalie Appéré, Mayor of Rennes, France; and Charlotte Britz, Mayor of Saarbrücken, Germany.

In awarding Climaco, the City Mayors Foundation said it heavily cited the local mayor for her commitment to offer Zamboanga harmony, security and prosperity. The City Mayors Foundation said “The World Mayor Prize and Commendations” awards are given every two years to mayors who have made outstanding contributions to their communities and have developed a vision for urban living and working that is relevant to towns and cities across the world.

It noted that shortly after being elected in 2013, Climaco was confronted with an armed uprising by Moro rebels that left parts of Zamboanga City under siege for 19 days and by the time government forces had defeated the rebels, 183 people had died and more than 120,000 residents were displaced.

“During her first term in office, Climaco made it her priority for the victims of the attack to receive justice and compensation. She has also been determined to heal any divisions between the city’s Christian and Muslim communities. The Inter-Religious Dialogue Council she convened has been successful in promoting peace. In a city, which was often perceived as violent, there have been no bombing or kidnapping incidents since 2016. And in 2017, Mayor Climaco’s administration won the award for the most improved local government,” said the philanthropic international research think tank.

It said that in a series of personal essays, the finalists for the 2018 World Mayor Prize described the reasons that motivated them to enter politics, the challenges they face as mayors and how they envisage their towns and cities to develop and prosper in the future. They stressed the importance of women in politics and urged young women to always aim high.

In her essay, Climaco describes how the values of family members formed her political and social beliefs. “My grandmother was a champion of Filipino women’s right to vote and it was from her, we all learned the value of community service,” she said. 

She also wrote that in times of crisis her faith in God sustained her.

Climaco was also recognized as “Most Outstanding Mayor” by the Federation of Local Councils of Women in the Philippines in 2017. These awards and rankings were based on indicators and measurements such as economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure and resiliency. These recognitions are feats never before achieved by any administration. (Zamboanga Post)