Court stops budget approval

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez, Jr. yesterday claimed victory in stopping the Provincial Board from approving the P3 billion annual budget of the province for next year.

While the Regional Trial Court did not issue the requested temporary restraining order, it stopped the discussion of the budget in yesterday's session upon the agreement of both parties.

RTC Judge Gilbert Moises instead ordered both parties to submit their respective memoranda until tomorrow for the court to rule on the petition that Sanchez filed.

"We are very happy about that kay ang amo tuyo natuman," Sanchez's lawyer Oliveros Kintanar told reporters.

"Equivalent naman siguro na sa TRO kay di naman sila (PB) ka sesyon. Mild lang kay walay TRO," Sanchez said.

Sanchez filed a prohibition with application for a writ of preliminary injunction, temporary restraining order and mandamus against Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the PB members last Friday.

The PB was supposed to approve yesterday the 2011 annual budget with all members, except Sanchez and PB member Arleigh Jay Sitoy who openly opposed it.

"As a sign of respect to the court, I agreed to defer the consideration of the budget," PB committee on budget and appropriation chairman Peter John Calderon said.

Provincial legal officer Marino Martinquilla said that the case is purely legal for the court to resolve whether it is within the prerogative of the vice governor to have a budget while his contention is that it is only the governor.

"Why conduct full-blown hearing nga pwede ra man og arguments through submission of memoranda? The whole case shall be resolved within the week," Martinquilla said.

Garcia said she respects the decision of the court as they agreed to have status quo in the discussion of the budget.

"On the side of the provincial government, that is not disadvantageous to us," Garcia said, citing that the province is still operating under the current budget.

Although speculative, Garcia explained that should there be no approved budget for next year, the 2010 budget shall be reenacted.

But she warned that "only mandatory, statutory and essential obligations shall be reenacted."

One of those that cannot be reenacted is the appropriations for the Legislative Assistance Fund of PB members which Sanchez is contesting now.

Garcia said that a lot of the same incidents occurred before during her father's term, then governor and now Rep. Pablo Garcia, in which the province had operated on a reenacted budget.

The salary increases of regular employees at the Capitol next year cannot also be implemented if the budget is reenacted.

"Any increase will have a big impact on them. Among-amongon ang tanan tungod sa sapot sa usa tungod kay wa makuha ang iyang gusto sa iyang kaugalingon," Garcia said.

Garcia is hoping the budget can still be approved as the PB still has sessions before the Christmas break.

Sanchez has been very unhappy with the proposed 2011 budget as the allocation for his office has been slashed by 61 percent.

The vice governor had proposed a P65-million budget for the legislative department, which he heads as presiding officer of the PB, but what is contained in the budget proposal from the office of the governor is only an allocation of P18 million.

Sanchez has been trying to block the approval of the budget since the first reading and in the budget hearings, but failed. He even returned his copy to the office of the governor.

The executive department, however, earlier stressed that the law gives the chief executive the authority to submit budget proposals. -/BRP (FREEMAN)