CEBU City Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced a significant budget cut of over P500 million from his own office and the City Council to prioritize programs benefiting ordinary residents.
The slashed budget will affect the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), or the City Council, its Secretariat and the Office of the Vice Mayor (OVM) for 2026.
According to Osmeña, the savings will be redirected to essential services such as medicines, scholarships for city students and aid for senior citizens, programs he says directly impact the lives of Cebuanos.
In his facebook post on Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, Osmeña showed the budget graphics comparing the 2025 and proposed 2026 allocations for the SP, Secretariat and the OVM.
From nearly a billion pesos to less than half
For 2025, the SP, Secretariat and OVM are running on a budget of P925 million. But under the proposal Osmeña presented, they will make do with only P415 million in 2026.
That means P512 million less, or more than half of what they used to spend.
Osmeña highlighted the reduction on Facebook, posting graphics that compared this year’s allocation with next year’s.
“As head of the Legislative, I am proud to announce that we will be saving over half a billion pesos in budget cuts compared to previous years,” he wrote.
Where the money will go instead
Osmeña explained that the money freed up from the cuts will be used for things Cebuanos actually need: medicines, scholarships, senior citizens’ aid and other essential programs.
He said these items “directly impact the lives of Cebuanos” and are more important than projects he described as unnecessary.
The “vanity projects” that won’t push through
Osmeña criticized what he described as “useless vanity projects,” singling out the proposed Vice Mayor’s Portrait Gallery. He said the gallery was the idea of “a certain overpriced BYD-loving official who put standees of himself in every entrance and corner of City Hall.”
As part of his budget cuts, Osmeña scrapped several allocations, including P168 million from the Legislative Support Fund Program, P100 million from the Comprehensive Capital Development Program and P50 million intended for the construction of an Archives Building.
He also removed P80 million meant for renovating the Legislative Building, P20 million for the Vice Mayor’s Gallery and P77 million worth of allocations from the OVM’s Other Maintenance and Operating Expenses, which had previously covered job order hiring, packed meals, food and venue rentals.
How the cuts break down
The budget reductions are spread across three offices within the Cebu City Government. The SP Legislative’s allocation was slashed from P606 million in 2025 to P283 million in 2026, reflecting a 53 percent reduction.
The SP Secretariat saw an even steeper cut, from P179 million down to P48 million, a 73 percent decrease.
Meanwhile, the OVM budget was trimmed from P140 million to P82 million, or a 42 percent cut. Altogether, these adjustments amount to a total reduction of P512 million.
What will stay in the 2026 budget
Despite the deep budget reductions, not everything was scrapped. A total of P30 million was retained for the installation of solar panels at the Legislative Building, a project identified as one of Mayor Nestor Archival’s priorities.
Additionally, the OVM will still support new initiatives, including the “Mayor of the Night” program, the creation of a Fund Finding Commission and the establishment of a 24/7 Help Desk to improve public service accessibility.
Osmeña’s way of cutting costs
During the council session on Wednesday, Sept. 10, Osmeña told fellow councilors that he deliberately left several plantilla positions unfilled in his office.
“I just want to inform the council that I have prepared the budget for the SP and for the vice mayor’s office for next year and our budget compared to this year is P500 million less,” he said.
Osmeña said he was giving a 50 percent discount and not even filling all the available slots for vice mayor, emphasizing that he was doing his share and putting his money where his mouth is.
He emphasized that there are people who are being left out, and this should not be allowed to happen. He added that while not everyone can be given something, it’s important to understand that those who are left out should not be penalized for it.
“Whatever we have, we just divide it. Okay?” Osmeña said.
The debate on senior citizens’ aid
The budget cut was revealed during a council session where members were deliberating on the funding for senior citizens’ financial assistance.
Councilor Sisinio Andales called on the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (Osca) to cleanse its list of beneficiaries, citing suspicious fluctuations in the numbers: 92,998 in the first quarter, 94,099 in the second and a drop to 93,037 in the third.
Andales said it was unacceptable that some unqualified individuals were able to receive benefits, while genuinely qualified seniors risked being left out. He urged Osca to conduct a thorough review to ensure fairness and accuracy.