Cebu City’s disaster budget hits snag amid claims of politicking

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CCDRRMO) head Nagiel Bañacia explains to the Cebu City Council committee on budget and finance why his office needs a total of P350.8 million budget for next year (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).

A 350.8-million budget plan next year for the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) was met with irritation by members of the Cebu City Council majority bloc during budget deliberations, Friday, amid growing noise arising from suspicions that the disaster office was being used for politicking by the mayor.

CCDRRMO is proposing a 46 percent increase in its maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) from P179 million this year to P330.8 million next year.

Another P20 million will be used for capital outlay, placing the total budget submission for CCDRRMO next year at P350.8 million compared to the P292.5 million allotted this year for disasters which included P113.5M for capital outlay.

“I can’t stop but think that you’re projecting that 2017 will not only be a disaster but a catastrophe. You’re increasing the budget by 46 percent. What’s going to happen next year that we don’t know?” said Councilor Raymond Garcia, vice chairperson of the committee on budget and finance, airing pent-up frustration.

Noting the huge leap in CCDRRMO’s budget plan, Garcia questioned a proposed P32.4-million budget inclusion to pay job order personnel (JOs) who will be deployed to the city’s 80 barangays as first responders or barangay-based quick response teams (QRTs).

“This is a duplication of the job of the barangays and a waste of government resources. You’re trying to disguise BMOs (barangay mayor’s offices) through a barangay disaster office. It can’t be done. I will not allow this to happen,” Garcia said.

Garcia, a former councilor of Barangay Kamputhaw and head of the Barangay Councilor’s League of the Philippines (BCLP) Cebu City chapter before winning a seat in the Cebu City Council last May, noted that in Kamputhaw, the barangay disaster office (BDO) is being headed by an ally of Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).

The councilwoman cum BDO head, he said, had already signified her intent to run in next year’s barangay elections while those manning the BDO were those who would be part of her lineup.

The BDOs were reportedly being used to filter requests for City Hall assistance with the staff authorized to sign certifications required for constituents to avail of city hall services like burial and medical assistance.

“This is really being politicized. We are not only spending useless money to duplicate what the barangay hall is doing. But we are also promoting animosity among out constituents down the barangay level, letting them campaign for the 2017 barangay elections. That’s exactly what they’re doing,” Garcia said.

Garcia added that this also causes confusion as many people have started to refer to the BDO as a second barangay hall.

Committee on budget and finance head, Councilor Joy Pesquera (Team Rama) also pointed to the case of Kinasang-an where Barangay Captain Jeffrey Navarro who is allied with BOPK, reportedly kept the village’s BDO in a private property right across the barangay hall.

Pesquera said that this does not look good in the eyes of ordinary people even those who do not care about politics in the city.

In a wide-ranging year-end budget proposal, CCDRRMO head Nagiel Bañacia presented items amounting to P350.8 million for the office expense next year.

Aside from the P32.4M proposed budget for BDO job order (JO) employees next year, Bañacia also wants P4.2 M for JO workers manning CCDRRMO’s command control center and P8.7M for JOs who will be deployed in the city’s quick response team.

Other items

Under maintenance and operating expenses, CCDRRMO also proposes a budget for relief and recovery programs (P22 million), training expenses (P47 million), public safety and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) program based services (P59.4 million), emergency medical services, health services, medical supplies and materials (P8.5 million), information, education and communication supplies and materials (P3 million), rent expenses (P5 million), repair and maintenance of motor vehicles (P17.8 million).

Moreover, CCDRRMO wants to set aside P105 million as quick response fund, representing 30 percent of the office’s total budget.

Bañacia explained that the bolstered spending will be due to trainings and capability buildings for their personnel next year.

From P4.9 million this year, the CCDRRMO plans to allocate P47.8 million for personnel training next year.

Other increases include administration and operations (from P30 million to P57 million), public safety and DRRM (from P25 million to P59 million), emergency medical services, health services, medical supplies and materials (from P1 million to P8.5 million) and repair and maintenance for motor vehicles (from P3 million to P17.8 million).

Bañacia reminded city councilors during the hearing that CCDRRMO does not have control over the amount of their total budget as this will all depend on the city’s total budget proposal.

Under the law, CCDRRMO gets five percent of the total budget for next year which is pegged at P7.2 billion.

Pesquera asked Bañacia to prioritize the more important items needed by his office considering that the city treasurer’s office had admitted to having some difficulties reaching the city’s full revenue collection target for next year. Bañacia said he will submit a list of his final budget that includes funding for his top priorities to combat disaster.