Council to study Rama’s Expenses

CEBU, Philippines -  Cebu City Council Margot Osmeña was shocked upon learning that Mayor Michael Rama spent nearly half a million pesos for roasted pigs or lechons that he gave to different barangays and private groups.

The documents obtained by Councilor Margot Osmeña from the City Accounting Office showed that the mayor spent P422, 600 for lechon from January to November 30, which is part of his P5.8 million extraordinary expenses for the past 11 months and is taken from his discretionary funds.

Part of the expenses was the P10, 500 spent for lechon given to the Bulacao Women’s Organization and to the Gabutan Clan of Guadalupe last July 12.

Mayor Rama said his expenses for lechon were not for his personal use but were given to the barangays and groups who requested for it for their parties. Rama said this practice was also adopted by his predecessor.

The documents also showed that the mayor spent P119,176 for groceries; P121,700 for flowers; P155,900 for flower stands and P2,023,596 for meals, snacks and drinks used during various events.

It was also learned that the Office of the Mayor spent P2.9 million for other various expenses like giveaways, advertising and publication, medical assistance and others.

Osmeña said they still did not discuss the matter with the other members of the City Council, but this may be discussed during the final deliberations of the proposed P6.7 billion annual budget next week.

“As of now, we have not really discussed it yet though we will take the necessary steps that the city’s funds are used for purposes intended,” she said.

According to Osmeña, the latest discovery would lead to the implementation of safeguards in the budget to prevent the mayor from abusing the use of the public funds, particularly the ones placed under his discretionary funds.

Osmeña said the city council will convene next week to approve the 2013 annual budget although she did not reveal how much they will approve.

However, Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas R.Osmeña hinted when he was interviewed by reporters last Thursday that Rama may no longer get the same amount of budget this year because his administration failed to collect the target collections.

The city’s budget for this year is P5.3 billion but during the  end  ofNovember, the collection  was  still  close  toP4 billion and the remaining amount could no longer be collected until the yearend. (FREEMAN)