The Lapu-Lapu City Council has yet to approve the city’s annual budget for 2022. |Futch Anthony Inso
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — The Lapu-Lapu City government may have to implement a reenacted budget in 2022.
Councilor Rico Amores said that this was a big possibility since the city was still discussing the 2022 Annual Investment Plan (AIP).
“The possibility is there. Reenacted budget ang possibility,” Amores said.
This year, the city has an annual budget of P2.7 billion.
But in the 2022 proposed annual budget of the mayor, the executive department is asking for around P3 billion.
Amores, however, clarified that the approval of the annual budget was delayed after Mayor Junard “Ahong” Chan issued a memorandum prohibiting department heads to attend the council’s session without his approval.
He said that since the mayor issued the memorandum, members of the city council have experienced difficulty in approving the AIP since no one from the executive department could explain to them how their budget would be spent.
After the AIP would be approved, Amores said that the council would discuss the approval of the proposed annual budget.
“For seven consecutive sessions, wala mo-attend and mga department head concerned. And then, nakakuha mi ug letter last session, ang pag-attend sa mga department heads, depende kung naay approval sa mayor. Ug walay approval sa mayor, dili pwede mag-attend. Mao na nga nalangan ang pag-approve sa 2022 budget,” he added.
(For seven consecutive sessions, no concerned department heads attended. And then, we received a letter last session about the department heads attending the session would depend on the mayor’s approval. If the mayor won’t approve then the department head could not attend. That is the reason the approval of the 2022 budget is delayed.)
Since the council no longer has a schedule for their regular session in the remaining weeks of December, and it was not even included in the discussion for the special session on Tuesday, December 14, 2021, then starting January in 2022, the city would already be adopting the annual budget this year.
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