Rama mulls raps against BO-PK bloc on budget
“If that’s the party stand and they are all one party, then they should be sued as one party.”
With this statement, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he will file charges against the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bloc in the Cebu City Council for inserting special provisions in the approved 2015 budget.
“We will file cases especially on acts that doesn’t belong to them and it’s constituting arrogating upon themselves the power of the mayor. That is already going beyond their prerogative and I will bring that to the Ombudsman,” Rama told reporters in yesterday’s press conference.
He said placing special conditions and provisions in the executive’s use of the approved P13.4 billion budget next year is like clipping the mayor’s hands. Rama said not even Congress can do that to the President.
Among the conditions in the 2015 budget ordinance is in Section three which specifies that only the revenue from the sale of the lots in the South Road Properties (SRP) will be the source of fund for the P4.5 billion worth of capital outlay in the budget.
“Implementation and purchases of any and all capital expenditure items identified in this annual budget shall be enforceable upon the sale of the SRP lot,” the section read.
Line objections
Rama said usurpation of authority can be filed against the councilors found to have inserted conditions in the use of the approved budget allocations.
He said he formed a group headed by the City Legal Office and his executive assistant Joey Daluz III to study any legal action they may take against the councilors.
Councilors Gerry Carillo, Noel Wenceslao and Richard Osmeña expressed line objections in the ordinance while Mary Ann Delos Santos and Phillip Zafra registered reservations.
The other Team Rama councilors – Dave Tumulak, Hanz Abella and James Anthony Cuenco – didn’t say anything. Rama assured that he won’t be impleading his allies in his cases since they “fought for the budget.”
He said the filing of cases won’t hamper the city’s implementation of the budget ordinance.
City Attorney Jerone Castillo said his office will be looking at all documents relating to the ordinance including minutes of the deliberations on the appropriations.
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