CEBU, Philippines - Sixth district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz has criticized incumbent Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes for saving money for the city instead of spending it for projects.
Ruiz, who is running for mayor against Cortes, said she was surprised to learn that the city has a P1.2 billion savings which Cortes has promised to spend for projects if he gets reelected.
“Jonas, your time is up. The people of Mandaue cannot wait for another term before projects start to get done. Napupos na imong panahon. Wala gyud kay nahimo. You are fired for incompetence and gross mismanagement,” Ruiz said.
According to Ruiz, a local government unit does not exist to save money but rather to satisfy the basic services to the people.
“A local government unit is not a profit institution. It is designed to deliver good roads, efficient garbage collection, prevent flooding and provide quality health care,” the outgoing congresswoman said.
Ruiz said that Cortes has been mayor for three years and was given P2.8 billion by the City Council without cuts but still failed to deliver basic services to the 360,000 Mandauehanons.
City Administrator Briccio Boholst earlier bragged that the city government has a total savings of P1.2 billion ready for project implementation.
Boholst said that the money will be use up for projects once Cortes is given a fresh mandate after the May 10 elections.
Boholst, in a press statement furnished to The FREEMAN, said Mandaue’s first quarter cash daily report showed that the city has P1,227,588,556.54 deposited in three depository banks of the city; Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine National Bank and the Land Bank of the Philippines.
Ruiz hit Cortes for his failure to prioritize the delivery of basic services. Cortes instead spent most of the budget to hire 2,300 job order employees spending almost P500 million for their salaries while allocating only P71 million for the infrastructure projects such as road repairs.
Ruiz added that despite the P2.8 billion annual budget approved by the council, garbage collection in the city remains ineffecient, drainage problem remains unabated, slaughterhouse and new market remain unoperational as well as breakdown of health care. - THE FREEMAN