I COMMISERATE WITH the job order employees of the city government of Mabalacat and understand their plight: they have not received their meager salaries for November 15 yet.
While the regular and casual employees have received theirs and are expecting the P5,000 cash gift due them, the job order workers have yet to receive a single centavo of their pay, all because they stand to be collateral damage of the stalemate of the tiff between Mayor Crisostomo C. Garbo and the Sangguniang Panlungsod over the approval of the request for supplemental budget proposed by the former to cover various expenses like medical and financial assistance, including burial, medicines, and supplies and other important expenditures for the city's marginalized sector.
I gathered that the executive has not submitted yet a detailed explanation and other attachments, hence, the chair of the SP committee on local finance has not yet acted on the request for supplemental budget.
In the meantime, the JOs and basic services continue to be clueless as to when the supplemental budget will finally be approved and funds be released.
It is on record that the SP has the power of the purse so the executive must have its go-signal before spending the public funds, otherwise the good mayor may be subject to sanctions under the law.
According to some councilors, they had approved earlier a P72 million supplemental budget which includes the allocation for salaries of Jos until December 20 they are wondering why the said salaries were not paid on time.
Meanwhile, Mayor Cris had a hard time explaining to the JOs and the public his predicament with the SP's adamance to approve his request for supplemental budget.
Mayor Cris surmises that the stalemate is politically motivated.
***
Even the National Government seems bound to experience delay in the approval of its submitted budget proposal which, this year, amounts to P3.757 trillion.
Reportedly, the Senate does not have sufficient time to scrutinize the 2019 appropriation despite the bill's approval by the House of Representatives.
A bicameral committee meeting needs to be held on the budget to seal the approval before it goes to President Rodrigo Duterte for his signature.
It appears that a reenacted budget will operate for 2019, given the time constraint.