Rama seeks hike of DMDP funds, fiscals’ allowance

Friday, February 17, 2012

THE P85.5 million first supplemental budget carried the P1.134 million allowances of state prosecutors, but not for the city prosecutors.

The Office of the Regional State Prosecutor, through its head, Fernando Gubalane, wrote to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and the Council of the P15,000 cash allowance of each of the six prosecutors in the office that was defunded from the 2012 annual budget.

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Rama included the allowance worth over a million in his proposed first supplemental budget (SB1), which he said may be the first of many supplementals.

City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon also asked for an increase of his assistant city prosecutors allowances from P10,000 to P18,000 and for such to be included in the first SB.

It was not included, though.

Rama, in his regular press conference yesterday, said he would include the items not in SB1 but in other SBs.

“We will submit more supplementals in due time... If there is surplus along the way, we will keep track with the needs,” said Rama who has kept in mind the advice of the Council to just pass SBs when there is money.

The Council approved only P5.2 billion budget from the over P10 billion that Rama proposed for failure of the executive to present the sources of funds.

Rama doubts he could reach P10 billion, though, through supplemental budgets.

He said that when he proposed the P11.8 billion budget, there was that idea of selling portion of the South Road Properties.

Rama also said he would include those items he earlier mentioned in the next SB. He said he is not hampered from passing SB2 next month.

Earlier, Rama said he will augment the “operation tuli” budget at the City Health Department, add the operational funding of the Department of Public Services as Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP) Chief Fidel Magno asked for an increase in the maintenance and other operating expenses for the conduct of jobs fairs.

He thought the items would be included in the first supplemental but the mayor said his local finance committee may not have included everything.

The budget proposal was also trying to beat the deadline because it carried the P7,000 anniversary bonus of all City Hall employees by Feb. 24, the 75th Charter Day celebration of Cebu City.

Each employee is entitled to a 10,000 bonus, including the P3,000 that was already appropriated in the annual budget.