MAYOR Oscar Moreno announced he would seek a nearly P5-billion budget from the city council for 2016 during the celebration of the city’s 65th Charter Day in Divisoria yesterday.
Moreno’s announcement and optimism came despite his administration’s failed attempts to win the local legislature’s approval for his proposed annual budgets since 2014.
As he delivered his annual report, Moreno said the P4.8-billion proposed budget would be spent to boost the local government’s basic services in line with his eight-point agenda.
The agenda, which he bared when he assumed office in mid-2013, include poverty alleviation and peace and order, resettlement and revenue generation, infrastructure and investment, metropolization, education and environment, health and hospital services, agricultural productivity, and, tourism and traffic.
His announcement was greeted with raised brows given the extent of the political bickerings between the local executive and legislative departments that have adversely affected the local government’s budget. For this year, Moreno sought an annual budget of P3.8 billion but the city council only approved P2.08 billion which was lower than the 2014 budget of P2.3 billion.
Councilor Enrico Salcedo said Moreno’s announcement would likely not sit well with the Padayon Pilipino-dominated city council majority.
Salcedo said a budget like that, if approved, would allow the Moreno administration to bring more services and projects to the.barangays.
“That’s exactly what they (majority) do not want to happen because public service is good politics,” said Salcedo.
Councilor Teodulffo Lao, another Moreno political ally like Salcedo, said Moreno’s announcement was “ambitious” but “achievable” given city hall’s tax-collection performance since Moreno became mayor.
Lao said the Moreno administration was optimistic it could generate more revenues without increasing taxes. Moreno said resettlement and the delivery of health services are going to be the most challenging unless his administration gets the cooperation of the city council.
He said there was a need to amend the so-called “piso-piso” ordinance, the reason why city hall could not give land titles to informal settlers who were relocated by city hall.
Moreno also said the local government has been stepping up the delivery of basic health services down to the barangays.
He said some 45 barangay-based health centers have been accredited by Philhealth, and city hall has upgraded the facilities and dramatically improved services at the local government-owned JR Borja Memorial Hospital.
Moreno said city hall also built 383 new classrooms in the city using its Special Education Fund, adding that his goal is to construct over 400 classrooms before the end of his first office term as mayor of the city.
In Bugo, he said, city hall recently acquired one hectare where a new public school would be built.
On infrastructure, Moreno reported that city hall concreted some 28 kilometers of road in the city’s outlying villages since July 2013. “We can and will do more,” promised Moreno.
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