By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THREE of Mayor Oscar Moreno’s former allies in the city council yesterday said they would support the local chief executive in his proposal for a nearly P5-billion budget next year but they would be cautious against moves to hire partisans who could be turned into election campaign workers next year.
Councilors Roger Abaday, Teodulfo Lao Jr., and Enrico Salcedo said the Moreno administration can count on their support for programs intended to serve Cagayanons even as they lashed out at Padayon Pilipino members for allegedly being obstructionists.
“Dili man kami pareho sa majority sa city council nga mobabag lang bisan walay ilang basihahan. Kon para sa pagsilbi sa katawhan kanang P4.8 billion nga budget sa 2016, wala kanay problema,” said Lao. The two other councilors said the same thing.
Moreno submitted his proposed P4.8-billion budget for 2016 to the city council on Friday as mandated by law.
Lao, Abaday, and Salcedo used to be allies of Moreno in the city council until Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District announced in Sept. 13 that he would run for mayor and challenge the local chief executive’s reelection bid next year. Abaday is now Rodriguez’s running mate while Lao and Salcedo are seeking reelection under Rodriguez’s Centrist Democratic Party (CDP).
Abaday however said he and other CDP members in the city council would carefully go over Moreno’s proposed annual budget to ensure that city hall’s money would be properly spent.
“Ako gihapon kanang susihon kay basin naay budget diha alang sa bag-ong programa aron maka-hire siya (Moreno) sa additional nga empleyado nga dili imposibli nga iyang magamit sa politika,” said Abaday.
He however expressed apprehension over Moreno’s proposal, saying a P4.8-billion budget proposal could hurt the city’s business sector.
“Mosiyagit gyud niini ang mga negosyante kay asa man diay kuha-on kanang P4.8 billion?” Abaday asked rhetorically.
But Lao and Salcedo said the increase in the proposed 2016 budget was due to city hall’s savings resulting from the slashes made by the Padayon Pilipino-dominated city council since 2014.
They said city hall’s unspent funds have reached over P2.7 billion this year alone due to the absence of appropriations.
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