CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña submitted to the Cebu City Council his first Supplemental Budget for this year worth P13.2 million.
Before he left for his annual checkup in Houston, Texas, Osmeña submitted the budget to the City Council which will augment the payment for the South Road Properties (SRP) loan that is already due this August 20.
The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) earlier billed the city P164 million for the SRP loan.
But the city government’s appropriation this year is P13.2 million short, Cebu City Budget Officer Marietta Gumia said.
She said there was a miscalculation due to the foreign exchange rates.
The SB1 will be sourced from the savings under the food subsistence budget for the Cebu City Jail this year.
The budget has an appropriation of P23 million during the 13th Cebu City Council.
Gumia said they had asked Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak, the previous head of the peace and order program of the City, to use the funds.
Sought for his comment, Tumulak said his original proposal was for the P23 million to be used for the purchase of ambulance, closed-circuit television cameras, construction of water treatment facility and the food subsistence allowance for the city jail’s inmates.
However, Tumulak was suspended along with 13 City Hall officials last May in relation to the release of the P20,000 calamity assistance in 2013.
The council approved during that year the P23 million entirely just to cover the food subsistence allowance for the city jail.
Tumulak said the amount is already too much since the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology also gives a P50 subsistence allowance per day to each of the inmates.
With the P13.2 million fund realigned to pay for the SRP loan amortization, Tumulak said the remaining P9.7million will still be enough to pay for the food of the prisoners.
The 14th Cebu City Council will hold a budget hearing for the proposed SB1 tomorrow.