Pending supplemental budget-1: Labella hopeful after special session is set

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City acting mayor Edgardo Labella was “satisfied” with the move of acting vice mayor Nestor Archival calling a special session to discuss the possible outcome of the stalled P2.8 billion Supplemental Budget-1.

During his regular press conference yesterday, Labella said he welcomed the move after he sent Archival a communication urging City Council members to schedule a special session “to expeditiously act on the Supplemental Budget-1 not la-ter than the last working day of the year.”

“I hope they can achieve the quorum. I hope this time that it will really be deliberated upon because it is mandated by the Local Government Code. The fact that the acting vice mayor positively reacted, I am quite satisfied. But, of course, he has some concerns on the possibility of lack of quorum,” Labella said.

After receiving Labella’s letter, Archival issued memorandum last Tuesday calling for a special session at 2 p.m. this Monday, December 28.

Archival, though, expressed apprehension that the special session might not achieve the required quorum on that day since several members of the City Council have already left to celebrate the holidays outside Cebu.

“I have not received any feedback from other counci-lors yet. Mag-wait lang ta. Basta ako, naa ko sa session on Monday,” he said.

A special session needs 10 members of the City Council to validly transact business.

If the SB-1 could not be acted upon this year, Labella said there could “be a problem there.”

“There could be legal ramifications but considering that it is 2015, supplemental budget of the annual budget of 2015, then there could be a problem there,” he said when asked what will happen if the SB-1 will not be acted upon.

Labella manifested that if the City Council would reach quorum on Monday, he was willing to make an undertaking with other members of the legislative body who will affirmatively vote for the measure that he is willing to take responsibility for the fate of the civil case faced by the councilors and him.

The Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan-dominated City Council has rejected the move to lift the suspension on the deliberation of the P2.8-billion SB-1 for six times already.

The majority bloc has been consistent that it will not approve or disapprove the additional budget until the court renders “finality of judgment” in the case filed by a certain Romulo Torres against members of the City Council.

Torres questioned the validity of the sale of South Road Properties lots that resulted to the city government collecting P8.35 billion in down-payment of the sale from real estate developers.

The SRP money would be used to fund SB-1.

Torres asked the court to stop the city from using the money since he questioned the validity of the sale. The Regional Trial Court has dismissed the case, but Torres filed a motion for reconsideration.

“As I said several times, let us not operate on an atmosphere of fear, but let us be guided with a principle of good faith because we are in public service and that we should be ready for hazards. And one of these hazards is legal action,” Labella said, referring to the city councilors.

In a separate interview, City Councilor Margarita Osmeña said she will not be able to attend the special session because she will be spending the Christmas ho-lidays with her family in Manila.

Osmeña, chairwoman of the council’s committee on budget and finance, left Cebu City yesterday with her family.

City Councilor Sisinio Andales, for his part, said he will try to do his best to attend the special session, saying he has not missed any session of the legislative body.

But, he said, he does not think that the council would approve or disapprove SB-1 since what they asked is still “finality of judgment.”

“If we will approve or disapprove the SB-1, it is like an admission that the SRP sale is legal and valid. And that question is still pending before the court,” he said.

He will be travelling to Bohol today.

SB-1 contains P2.4 billion for the pre-termination of the outstanding balance of the city that it incurred in the reclamation of the 300-hectare SRP.

Labella said he sees the need to pay the SRP loan since the 2016 annual budget the council recently approved does not contain an allocation for the amortization of the loan in 2016. —/RHM (FREEMAN)