CEBU City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia countered Vice Mayor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros’ remark regarding the 2025 annual budget, which was flagged by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) 7 as “inoperative” due to some inconsistencies.
In an interview on Friday, April 25, Garcia said that the alleged inconsistencies in the approval and signing of the annual budget fall on Hontiveros, describing the vice mayor’s action as the “last touch.”
The DBM 7 flagged several items amounting to P79.7 million from the approved P14.6 billion 2025 annual budget. Some items were not listed in the city’s Annual Investment Plan (AIP), and there were numerical and classification errors.
Garcia submitted the proposed budget to the City Council in October 2024. In an earlier interview, he said the proposed P17.9 billion was a “realistic” budget. It was an 80 percent drop from the 2023 proposed budget of P100 billion by former mayor Michael Rama.
“It is true nga akoy naghimo sa budget but siya man gud ang nag-approve… Akoy naghimo but si council ang nag-approve ug kon buot nimo hunahunaon nga if they made any corrections, dapat unta ilahang gibalik sa mayor nga mahimo sa corrections and signed it,” Garcia said.
(It is true that I made the budget, but he (Hontiveros) approved it... I made it, but the council approved it, and if they made any corrections, they should have returned it to the mayor for corrections and signing.)
The council approved the budget on Dec. 27, 2024, while Garcia was out of town.
Process
Section 318 of the Local Government Code of 1991 outlines the process of preparing local annual budgets. It states that the local chief executive must prepare the executive budget for the upcoming fiscal year. This is based on income and expenditure statements from the treasurer, budget proposals from department and office heads, and income estimates and budget limits from the local finance committee.
The local chief executive must submit this executive budget to the sanggunian by Oct. 16 of the current fiscal year. The local sanggunian is then required to enact the budget ordinance before the end of the fiscal year, which starts on Jan. 1 and ends on Dec. 31.
Hontiveros was serving as acting mayor on Dec. 27, when the 2025 budget ordinance was approved. He then signed it on Dec. 28.
Garcia argued that even though it was the council’s job to scrutinize and correct the draft 2025 budget ordinance, Hontiveros, a council member, approved and signed it, not him as the mayor.
“In other words, the council and Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros had the last touch. They reviewed it,” Garcia said.
He reiterated that Hontiveros and the council could have exercised due diligence.
Garcia lamented the lack of time for a thorough review of the 2025 budget ordinance, which was signed a day after the council’s approval.
“They really rushed to sign it, so they could sign it and not me,” Garcia said.
“I could have done so many things—reject it, review it—but they really rushed it. So, of course, there is no other person to blame; he was the last touch,” he added.
Garcia earlier questioned the validity and timing of the approved budget ordinance’s transmission to the then-acting mayor’s office. However, he clarified that he would work with the approved budget.
Garcia clarified that the flagged items were declared inoperative, meaning they cannot yet be used unless reviewed and properly aligned with the AIP. The City Government can still use the rest of the budget allocations. / EHP