Town mayor: No lapses in budget ok

Ginatilan Mayor Dean Michael Singco yesterday assured there were no irregularities in the approval of the annual municipal budget during a special session of the town council last May 9. Singco's statement came after Vice Mayor Clarito Dinglasa filed a complaint at the Provincial Board that the seven councilors allegedly usurped his functions in approving the budget despite his declaration adjourning the session.

Singco, in a phone interview with The Freeman, said Dinglasa was out of order when he illegally adjourned the special session intended for the budget's approval.

Dinglasa had argued that he did it invoking his right as presiding officer for assumed motion in matters relating to committee reports, based on section 29 of the town council's internal rules and regulations. The vice-mayor delivered a privilege speech during that session, assailing the approval of the budget as premature because the committee on budget and appropriations, of which he is the chairman, has yet to submit its final report on the matter.

However, Singco countered that the privilege of assumed motion invoked by Dinglasa is not applicable to the adjournment of the special session. He said section 29 of the House Rules is a deviation from the Prescribed Order of Business, which talked about two applicable circumstances for which the rule may apply. The chairman can practice an assumed motion but only in suspending the rules and not on adjournment, which requires general consent meaning a unanimous vote or two thirds of the members present. And since there was no consent of the majority, there was no adjournment and the seven councilors did the right thing in continuing with the session and eventually approving the budget, said Singco.