JVR backs out from PB-initiated budget dialogue
Mayor Delos Reyes
Talisay City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes has backed out of a proposed dialogue with his vice mayor over the slashed budget that has caused a rift between him and the City Council.
Mayor De los Reyes last Wednesday informed Provincial Board Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez that he was backing out of the dialogue the Capitol initially set with Vice Mayor Villarante.
Sanchez, chairperson of the PB budget committee has been trying to mediate the Talisay City budget mess.
“I respect his (de los Reyes) decision not to come into terms with Villarante through the efforts of the provincial government” she said.
However, de los Reyes sent a text message to Sanchez yesterday that he changed his mind and wanted the dialogue rescheduled.
“I am apprehensive. He (de los Reyes) might change his mind again the next morning,” Sanchez told Cebu Daily News in a text message.
Sanchez earlier said that even while the Capitol cannot decide on the Talisay City budget feud, it can still look for ways to mediate.
She said that the Provincial Board will set standards on the allocation for the budget items as provided by the law.
The plan was to assist both mayor and vice mayor with the council to set standards common to all local government units.
This way, the items where they disagree could hopefully be settled, Sanchez said.
“Just to have an operational budget for the office of the mayor to function effectively without sacrificing the basic services,” she added.
REASON
Acting City Information Officer Cynthia Barrit, speaking on behalf of the mayor, said that de los Reyes is no longer going to entertain the possibility of discussing the budget with Vice Mayor Villarante.
This was when de los Reyes decided not to take part in a dialogue.
“It could have been done earlier,” she told CDN over the phone.
Barrit said that the mayor had long been open to the complaints of Villarante.
She added that de los Reyes was always ready to accommodate the vice mayor’s requests in the past.
The officer said that Villarante could have sat down with the mayor and discussed things even before the P1.081-billion budget was slashed, vetoed, and then overruled.
“That was when clarifications should have been made. But (Villarante) never approached him (de los Reyes),” she said.
Villarante has been complaining that some of his agreements with Delos Reyes has not been followed because the mayor is allegedly influenced by his son John Yre who is the city administrator and the “pastors” who serve as his advisers.
Mayor Agnes Magpale said last Monday that the PB facilitated mediation would only include elected officials, meaning Mayor Delos Reyes, Vice Mayor Villarante, members of the City Council and the PB. “No pastors, no Yre” dialogue, Magpale was quoted as saying earlier this week.
But Barrit said: “The budget issue isn’t only about the two of them. It entails the operations of the LGU. It entails the future and plans to improve the city,” she said.
However, she pointed out that the local chief executive is still open to discussing things unrelated to it.
This year, Mayor de los Reyes proposed a P1.081 billion budget which included the construction of a new public market.
The Talisay City Council dropped the budget for the market, saying they didn’t approve it.
From P731 million, the council trimmed it to P539 million, reducing appropriations from the mayor’s intelligence fund and maintenance expenses.
OPTIONS
Barrit said that even without a dialogue, the executive department can still look for other ways to remedy the budget issue.
She said that one of these is “benchmarking,” or the setting of standards for allocations in budget items as provided by the Department of Budget Management (DBM) which the Province earlier committed to doing.
Furthermore, Barrit said that the town can also ask financial aid from other sources because the slashed budget is very little.
“This is part of the mayor’s commitment not to hamper basic services in the city,” she said.
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