CEBU, Philippines - Various groups have petitioned the Municipal Council of Pinamungajan to pass the 2014 annual budget amounting to P95 million.
The groups urged Vice Mayor Maria Honeylette Yapha-Lingad, Councilors Ernesto Faciol, Jeffrey Anthony Yapha, Benito Fernandez, and Maria Flores Cantero to reconsider their decision for the benefit of all the Pinamungajanons.
The petitioners include the 23 out the 26 barangay captains, 126 barangay councilmen, 56 municipal employees, all department heads, officials and employees of Lamac Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Pinamungajan Central School, Pinamungajan Public Market Vendors Association, Senior Citizens Association of the Philippines- Pinamungajan Chapter, youth sector, farmers and fisherfolks associations, Pinamungajan Badminton Afficionados, Pinamungajan- Aloguinsan Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association, Barangay Health Workers and some concerned citizens.
Lingad earlier cited the lack of majority votes as the reason for the disapproval of the budget.
There were five councilors allied with Mayor Glenn Baricuatro who voted to pass the annual budget but the four members of the opposition bloc insisted that they need at least six votes to pass the budget.
But, Baricuatro contended it only needs five votes or simple majority of the nine-member council to approve the budget. —/FPL (FREEMAN)