Typhoon aid, SRP loan payment await council nod

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Development Council (CCDC) has approved a supplementary Annual Investment Program (AIP) totaling P1.6 billion which is now up to the City Council’s approval.

Included in the approved amount is the P400 million additional funds as assistance to affected families of typhoon Odette.

“That’s the money of the people. We have to give it to those who are qualified,” said Mayor Michael Rama, the chairman of the CCDC, about the additional allocation for assistance during its full council meeting at a hotel in Cebu City recently.

Along with this, Rama asked barangay officials who attended the meeting to help the city government in verifying the qualified beneficiaries for the P5,000 financial assistance.

The bulk of the proposed budget goes to the prepayment of the South Road Properties loan amounting to P868.73 million.

Rama has been pushing this prepayment since 2015 but failed to get it done when he lost to Tomas Osmeña in the 2016 elections.

Rama said he hopes that the SRP loan will be fully paid soon so city government can save some funding paid for loan interest for other projects.

Meanwhile, the city’s Public Information Office also reported that P12.4 million has also been included as additional gratuity pay for job order workers.

The approved supplementary AIP will be forwarded to the Cebu City Council for deliberation and approval.

Once approved, the executive department would then request for the passage of a proposed supplemental budget accordingly. — JMD (FREEMAN)