Approved in principle: P67-million peace, order budget hike

THE city’s legislators have already “approved in principle” a P67-million increase in the Moreno administration’s peace and order budget, a city council’s legislative information group revealed yesterday.

This came following a marathon budget hearing presided over by Councilor Edna Dahino on Mayor Oscar Moreno’s proposed Peace and Order Development Program for 2019.

Based on the proposal, the program will have a P127-million budget or an over 100-percent increase compared to this year’s allocation of P60 million.

In a statement, the city council’s information group said it is classified in the proposed 2019 budget under the special purpose fund of city hall’s general fund.

The proposed increase is intended to fund a P10-million capability building program, a P20-million enhance lift and communication capability program, a P37.5-million counter insurgency and counter terrorism program, a P10-million rewards, and incentives and awards system. For “Other Programs/Support,” P50 million was proposed.

City budget officer Percy Salazar said the proposed increase in the budget is meant at strengthening security measures and improving the peace and order situation in the city.

The budget deliberation on the proposed Peace and Order Development Program for 2019 was attended by councilors Zaldy Ocon, Teodulfo Lao Jr. and John Michael Seno as well as representatives of the Local Finance Committee and chiefs of different offices of the city government.

Meanwhile, the city council, sitting as committee of the whole, also approved in principle the proposed budgets for various non-office allocations for next year.

During Day 4 of budget deliberations, local legislators discussed the proposed budgets under the city’s General Public Services Sector. These include the Bottom-Up Budget projects and city counterpart to national government agency projects amounting to P20 million, support to people empowerment projects under the City Poverty Reduction Action Center amounting to P9 million, support to extension services amounting to P20 million, support to executive-legislative services program amounting to P21 million, and election expenses amounting to P10 million.

Also approved in principle were the budgets of the city chief executive and auxiliary programs and services in social services sector in the amount of P49.6 million.

Under the City Chief Executive are the Cagayan de Oro Job Placement Bureau with a proposed budget of P28 million for the Public Employment Assistance Program, P1.09 million for Employment Assistance (job fair), P104,000 for the anti-illegal recruitment campaign, among others.

The Roads and Traffic Administration would also likely have a budget of P100.9 million next year. During the third day of the budget hearing, councilors approved it “in principle.”

The RTA’s budget includes the salaries and wages of employees (P56 million), maintenance and other operating expenses (P42 million) and purchase of speed gun with accessories, breath analyzer, two-way radio base with antenna, all with accessories, among others (P1.8 million).

In response to the query of Councilor Dahino on how often the RTA personnel were giving trainings and the capacity of trainers, Engr. Nonito Oclarit said out of seven trainers, four of them have regularly trained for traffic education.

During the deliberation, Oclarit said the head of the section will be assigned to attend some trainings and programs of City Hall under the Human Resources Management Office.

“We have regular program to educate the traffic enforcers. The whole year round, these personnel under the Education Section have module on the topics that we are teaching to traffic enforcers,” he stressed.

Oclarit added that the office has a regular program called reformation and traffic education. This is one of the bases of renewing the contract of an employee.

“The performance of the enforcers will depend on how the traffic education personnel evaluated them,” he said.