From P17.9 billion to p14.6 billion : City Council approves trimmed-down budget

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council yesterday removed P3.3 billion, or about a fifth of the proposed P17.9 billion, before approving the annual budget for 2025, during a “hybrid” special session where members raise questions about proceedings and on their plenary house rules.

Following the approval yesterday afternoon, the executive department would have to content itself with just P14.6 billion, or 18.44 percent less of what it requested the legislative body to approve.

Approval came through a division of votes, with eight favouring the approval of P14.6 billion as the 2025 annual budget while seven were against it.

Prior to the approval, the City Council first tackled the committee on budget and finance’s report on the proposed annual budget ordinance that introduced several amendments  that reduced the amount to just P15 billion.

City Councilor Noel Wenceslao, City Council committee on budget and finance chairman, said they introduced the amendments, which are mostly reductions of portions of the budget, to better reflect the estimated revenue for 2025 as well as taking into consideration the utilization of the 2024 budget.

The committee report indicated that the City Treasurer's Office reported that the city’s revenue as of October 31 was just over P8 billion, which is significantly low compared to the projected income of more than P98 billion.

The committee also noted that the actual income of the city was far below the target income for 2024.

“It must be taken into consideration the effects when the proposed budget goes over the actual income of the city, which would indicate lower control and negatively impacts the Cebu City Government. It will affect profit margins due to additional expenses, productivity due to opportunity cost, and financial stability due to decreased liquidity,” read the report.

In line with this, the committee proposed the following funding changes: For the offices under the Office of the Mayor (MOOE), the Economic Recovery budget was trimmed to P1 from P100 million; that for miscellaneous expenses for “free education” was reduced from P556 million to P500,000; and that for other MOOE expenses were reduced from P10 million to P7 million; graduation subsidy was cut from P13.5 million to P1;

That for miscellaneous expenses for city education initiatives was reduced from P2 million to P1; that for the Livelihood Program was reduced from P100 million to P1; that for miscellaneous expenses for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation were reduced from P2 million to P1; and that for other supplies and materials expenses were cut from P3 million to P500,000.

The P25-million budget allocation for the PAAS 911 Emergency Call Handling System was also reduced to P13 million, while the proposed P250 million budget for the Digital Traffic Lights System (Phase 3) was reduced to zero.

Other significant reductions in allocations were that of the Senior Citizens Council budget, which was reduced from P10 million to P5 million; that for other supplies and materials, programs, and activities was cut from P3.5 million to P1; that for other MOOE was reduced from P2 million to P1; the Comprehensive Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation budget was slashed from P200 million to P1; that for financial assistance to the Vice Mayor’s League was reduced from P3 million to zero; and the construction of the new legislative building was cut from P100 million to zero.

A few allocations, however, were also increased, including that for the scholarship program that went from P331 million to P340 million, and that for the health sector allotments, which increased from P100 million to P160 million.

During the discussion, City Councilor James Cuenco questioned his and City Councilor Jerry Guardo’s exclusion from the deliberation before the committee report was crafted, as they, too, are members of the committee on budget and finance, hence the absence of their signatures in the committee report.

City Councilors Wenceslao, Jocelyn Pesquera, and Phillip Zafra were the only ones who signed the committee report.

“We are supposed to be a committee, not a committee of one,” Cuenco said.

Pesquera, however, explained that their committee had been deliberating the matter for multiple sessions.

Cuenco also questioned the delay in the deliberations, despite the proposal being submitted last October yet.

He also said that most of the slashed items were those that funded the pro-poor programs of the administration. He highlighted, in particular, the economic program, which was supposed to benefit 25,000 people but was left with only P1 to “divide among themselves,” and other allocations that were meant as financial assistance.

Pesquera, however, said that the city’s social causes have been consuming at least 60 percent of the City Government's budget, draining its. She said it is high time the City allocate more funds for investments and infrastructure.

After the scrutiny, the City Council approved the committee report despite seven members objecting to it. That act served as the second reading of the annual budget ordinance.

After the committee report approval, Wenceslao then motioned for the approval of the Annual Budget for 2025, with the amended amount of P14.6 billion, which was also approved despite seven members registering their objection.

 Hybrid Special Session

Members of the City Council also objected to the setup of the session even before the discussion of the committee report.

The special session was live-streamed and was supposedly a “hybrid” one, or that members are allowed to be physically absent from the session hall.

Most, however, were physically present, with only ex-officio member Rhea Jakosalem joining the special session via Zoom.

When the discussion began, Cuenco raised a motion to have the “hybrid special session” label deleted because those physically present could already declare a quorum as they are the majority of the council members already.

He argued that there is no need for a hybrid setup and that the matter they were about to tackle was the “most important” legislation the body had to pass for the year.

“It is incumbent upon us to be physically present; therefore, there is no need to call for a hybrid special session, more specifically linking it through the Zoom application,” Cuenco said.

Pesquera, however, said that when the invitation for the session was sent out, it was indicated that it would be in a “hybrid” setup.

She further said that it would be unfair to those who merely followed what had been agreed upon to be excluded from the proceedings.

Cuenco, however, argued that it was also “unfair” to those who cut short their Christmas vacation just to be physically present for the special session. Besides, he said, the hybrid setup was not decided upon by the majority.

When asked for his standpoint, City Councilor Rey Gealon, committee on laws chairman, said that under their house rules, a session could be conducted “in person or online if it is deemed necessary.”

“In view of the fact that member Jakosalem is already online, it is a bit embarrassing (that)…she will be ejected from this session just because she complied with what was indicated,” Pesquera said.

Jakosalem also explained that she is on an official business attending a Sangguniang Kabataan year-end assembly in Baguio City.

She said she joined the session online because the agenda included here presenting a committee report as a representative of the youth sector.

City Councilor Joel Garganera, though, said that both Councilors Cuenco and Jaypee Labella flew all the way from Manila to physically attend the session, as it was only when they arrived in Cebu City that they were informed that the session could be done through a hybrid setup.

“You coming home and making a sacrifice does not make her anything less. I think it’s not fair to say, ‘You sacrificed, and she didn’t,’ because she wasn’t aware. She was told the session could be hybrid,” City Councilor Joy Augustus Young, however, also said.

Because the members could not agree on the matter, it was decided to divide the house, resulting to eight agreeing to deny Cuenco’s motion and seven supporting it.(CEBU NEWS)