Gov. Hilario Davide III File Photo
GOV. Hilario Davide III said the province is willing to lend money to the Toledo city government to pay its P1.2 million electric bill and restore basic services in the city while the budget standoff continues.
“We can actually do that. We can lend them money. But on the other hand, I think Mayor (John Henry) Osmeña wants to teach a lesson to those who opposed the city budget,” the governor told reporters.
Toledo city councilors allied with One Cebu went to court to question the legality of the 2014 budget, a legal battle that has reached the Court of Appeals.
“At the moment, there is nothing we can do because there is a pending case involving the mayor and the council. From what I understand, Mayor Osmeña wants to abide by the (injunction) order of the court,” he added.
This week, power was cut off in all government offices in Toledo except the city hospital and jail due to an unpaid electric bill charged by Cebu Electric Cooperative (Cebeco) III.
Fire trucks and ambulances have no fuel to respond to emergencies, said Vice Mayor Antonio Yapha.
With the court’s permanent injunction, Davide said, “The people of Toledo are the ones affected here and whose fault is that? This is just my two cents worth, the court should not have intervened in the budget.”
Last month, Toledo City RTC Judge Hermes Montero issued a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) and eventually a preliminary injunction against the disbursement of the city’s P619-million budget for 2014.
Davide said he hopes that the Court of Appeals will “act immediately” on Osmeña’s petition to lift Montero’s order so that the city government can resume disbursement of funds and City Hall functions can return to normal.
“I hope the CA can act immediately on the petition. We request them to hasten the action,” he said.
Governor Davide said the problems were, in effect, caused by the preliminary injunction issued by the Toledo city court.
The court “should not have intervened on the issue,” said the governor.
He said there was already an approved budget of the city.
“It was questioned by the majority of the councilors because they thought there was no quorum but on the other side of Vice Mayor Yapha, it is already approved. So there was no point in blocking it,” he said.