By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent
“OVERBLOATED.”
This as how an erstwhile vocal critic of Mayor Oscar Moreno in the city council described the local chief executive’s proposed P5.4-billion budget for 2017.
Ex-councilor President Elipe said Moreno’s proposal would only be realistic if he could show that city hall’s actual collections have reached at least P4.9 billion.
When he was councilor, Elipe, former chairperson of the city council’s finance committee, succeeded in causing Moreno’s proposed annual budgets slashed for three straight years.
He cited the case in 2014 when Moreno proposed a P2.8-billion budget when city hall’s actual income was only P1.9 billion. In 2015, he said, the mayor proposed P3.6 billion when city hall’s actual income was only P2.1 billion.
Elipe said he doubts if city hall’s income this year would be close to P5 billion.
“Ang mgbubuwis man ang mabuang ug lakaw ana,” he said.
He challenged Moreno to justify the proposal. “Di mana pwede nga muingon sila nga damgo-damgo lang kay kwarta mana sa katawhan.”
The former councilor also called on the city council to carefully study Moreno’s proposal and “dili pud mag yes-yes lang permi nga wa sila nakasabot sa ilang gabotaran.”
Elipe is a partymate and a son-in-law of former mayor Vicente Emano, one of Moreno’s political enemies. His wife Nadya is serving as a councilor.
Ex-councilor Juan Sia, another former chairman of the city council’s finance committee, said it was understandable why Moreno proposed a higher budget this year, citing the rate of Cagayan de Oro’s growth.
“They can go up high to P10 billion if they want,” said Sia, pointing out that the funds would be coming from taxes that have been projected to significantly increase.
Sia said that when he chaired the city council’s finance committee, the then mayor Emano proposed an annual budget of P2.1 billion which was considered ambitious at that time.
Besides, according to Sia, “Gamay ang gasto ni mayor Emano sa una. Karon daghan obligation, dako gyud ang taxes. Mao nang magdako pud ang budget.”
Disclaimer
Mindanao Gold Star Daily holds the copyrights of all articles and photos in perpetuity. Any unauthorized reproduction in any platform, electronic and hardcopy, shall be liable for copyright infringement under the Intellectual Property Rights Law of the Philippines.
