Council beats veto

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas
Thursday, January 5, 2012

IN a 17-1 vote, the Cebu City Council overruled Mayor Michael Rama’s partial veto of the City Government’s 2012 budget.
Only Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr., the mayor’s nephew, objected to the council’s move to override Rama’s veto on Budget Ordinances 2295 and 2301.
This is the first time in the City’s history that a mayor vetoed an appropriation ordinance and was overruled by the legislative body.
But the council’s presiding officer, Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, also said the executive department can ask for supplemental budgets for some items, if enough funds are raised.
Young said the council did not delete anything in the budget, contrary to what the mayor believes, but authorized the mayor to spend only P5.2 billion, instead of the proposed P11.8 billion.
“This means that at any time, the executive department can come back and reintroduce the items if they can prove that there is enough funding and we can approve some more projects,” Young said.
Budget Ordinance 2295 is the ordinance that covers the funds for the regular operations of the City Government. Budget Ordinance 2301 contains the Local Development Fund, for the new plans, programs and projects of the City for this year.
During the special session yesterday, the council answered point by point the reasons Mayor Rama cited for why he vetoed part of the 2012 budget.
Councilor Margarita Osmeña, chairperson of the council’s committee on budget and finance, said the items the legislative body authorized are based on the “reasonable expectations of the City’s revenues.”
The council begged to differ with Mayor Rama’s statement that the removal of certain items was “ultra vires” or beyond the council’s authority.
Rama had mentioned the “deletion” from Budget Ordinance 2301 of the appropriations for the reconstruction of a sewerage treatment at the North Reclamation Area; rehabilitation of the Cebu City Police Office; purchase of medical, dental and laboratory equipment; and construction of the Pasil fish port.
Authorization
The council also reiterated the need for the executive department to seek the council’s authorization for the use of lump sum appropriations for road concreting, and gasoline, oil and lubricants, a move the mayor had questioned.
Councilor Osmeña invoked the letter sent by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to the City dated Aug. 10 last year, which contains the agency’s comments on the City Government’s 2011 budget.
It states that “the utilization of all appropriations of capital outlay under the local development fund and the general fund proper including non-office, more specifically lump sum appropriations, shall, as may be applicable, be subject to the authorization of the Sanggunian on the list of projects to be implemented.”
The DBM cited a Supreme Court (SC) ruling, issued in December 2008, on a case filed by
some members of the Cebu Provincial Board against Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
The SC had said there was no need for a further authorization by the legislative department, if an appropriation ordinance for an expense contains “sufficient detail…such that all the local chief executive needs to do after the requisite public bidding is to execute the contract.”
However, specific approval by the legislature is needed, the SC had ruled, when the appropriation ordinance describes a project or procurement in generic terms (like “infrastructure projects” or “flood control projects”).
Checks
Councilor Edgardo Labella, chairperson of the council’s committee on laws, said requiring the executive department to get the authorization first on the use of lump sum appropriations is “very much in keeping with the principle of check and balance.”
Sought for comment, Mayor Rama said expected the council to override his veto.
He said he will be meeting with the City’s local finance committee to discuss the move of the legislative body.
“I will meet with them to discuss what we should be doing and what we should be pursuing. In the meantime, I will be busy preparing for the Sinulog,” he said. He refused to further comment on the matter.
Councilor Jose Daluz III believes the council’s latest move is the final act for both the City’s executive and legislative departments, as far as the 2012 budget is concerned.
“There is no more act to be done,” he said.
Daluz said the budget will now have to be submitted to DBM for review and comments.
Based on the rules, Daluz said the DBM will review the budget within 90 days upon receipt.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on January 05, 2012.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2012/01/05/council-beats-veto-198918

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