Cebu City wants P16M for election expenses

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Government will submit to the City Council today a P16 million Supplemental Budget for the October 28 barangay elections.

“The City hall through the SB will allocate P16 million, a priority, so as not to further create headache and trouble,” Mayor Michael Rama said yesterday.

“We’ve been involved several times in helping elections if we have the money to help them (barangays),” Rama added, hoping that the Council would act on the proposal quickly. 

He said he and other executive officials decided to allocate the budget so that the 80 barangays here won’t be burdened by election expenses. If approved by the Council, the honorarium for members of the Board of Election Tellers (BET) will also be deducted from the supplemental budget. 

Rama did not disclose from which funds the city will deduct the budget.

The Comelec is expected to collect P14.7 million from all 80 barangays in Cebu City. Three out of 80 barangays have already given their contribution, including San Roque, Tejero and Santo Niño. San Roque has given P108,000 while Tejero has given P216,000.

Comelec confirmed Santo Niño has given its contribution but the amount has not been reflected in its records just yet.

In a separate interview, ABC federation president Michael Ralota said they will not rely on the supplemental budget because there is reportedly less possibility that the City Council will approve the proposed amount.

“Di lang mo-rely and di-kumpyansa nga makalusot ang SB kay kun mo lusot man galing sa Council, mu-take time sab ni. (We won’t rely on the proposed budget because processing would still take time even if the Council would approve it),” Ralota said.

Rallota said Rama needs to back the proposal with required documents, including a Certificate of Availability of Fund (CAF), as required by the Omnibus Election Code.

Meanwhile, Section 18 of Commission on Elections (COMELEC) resolution 9739 promulgated on July 10, 2013 states that all barangays are mandated to give P10,000 and not more than 10 percent of their general funds for Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

Ralota said he will propose a resolution in line with the Comelec resolution next week.

Ralota said he has already sat with Councilor Margot Osmeña, chairperson of the Council’s committee on budget and finance; Councilor Sisinio Andales, chairman of the committee on laws; Assistant City treasurer Tessie Camarillo, two Comelec officials and the city’s legal officer to discuss the proposed resolution./JMO (FREEMAN)