AFTER some delay, the Lapu-Lapu City Council has passed an ordinance for a P162.98 million supplemental budget 1 (SB1) the bulk of which will fund the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines, the cash-for-work program and birthday gifts to senior citizens.
On its Facebook page Monday, May 10, 2021, the Lapu-Lapu City Public Information Office (PIO) announced that the SB1 ordinance provides P104 million for the purchase of vaccines, P31 million for the cash-for-work program, P25 million for the social enhancement program for senior citizens, P1.5 million for the improvement of isolation facilities, P1 million for online services for real property taxes and P460,257 for debt services for a national housing authority in Sudtungan.
In the same Facebook post, Mayor Junard Chan lamented the delay in the passage of the ordinance, saying that while the process normally takes just three weeks, this ordinance took legislators seven weeks to approve.
He said the delay had “greatly affected the release of birthday gifts of senior citizens and the purchase of additional vaccines.”
Chan said the delays had resulted in his office being flooded with complaints, as the senior citizens had expected their birthday gifts to be released in April.
The mayor said the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic had heightened the senior citizens’ need for cash.
According to the Lapu-Lapu City PIO, councilors disagreed on the allocation for the cash-for-work program and the vaccine purchase, with some councilors wanting the P31 million allocated for the cash-for-work program added to the P104 million set aside for the purchase of vaccines instead.
The cash-for-work program is intended “for those who lost their job and badly need money to survive in this time of the pandemic,” the PIO said. (CTL, PR)