DAVAO de Oro Governor Dorothy "Dotdot" Gonzaga clarified the information released by the Office of Vice Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy that among the factors of the delay of the approval of the Calendar Year Executive Budget for 2024 was because she prevented the department heads of the provincial local government unit from attending the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) proceedings.
In a text message on Sunday, March 3, 2024, the former lady justice and now the first lady governor of the province said that based on her letter to the vice governor, which she said is extant up to this day, the department heads cannot attend to the SP's invites since the discussion was still on the Annual Investment Plan (AIP), which documents were prepared by the Provincial Development Council and not by the department heads. Thus, the presence of the department heads was not necessary at that time.
Gov. Gonzaga also revealed that the AIP, a document pre-requisite to the budget discussion, was approved by the SP only on January 22, this year.
"After which, the department heads already appeared for the budget discussion up until the budget was approved, SP version, on February 26," she said.
Uy, in a press release, said that one of the factors for the delayed approval of the budget was that the SP waited for almost a month for the department heads to be present in the proceedings.
"They were not given permission by the governor to attend the proceedings of the SP. In fact, since last year, almost 24 sessions na wala’y nagpakita nga department heads (the department heads had failed to attend). The process would have been faster had the governor let them attend," he was quoted as saying.
Gov. Gonzaga, meanwhile, revealed that as of Sunday, March 3, 2024, she has not received a copy of the approved appropriations ordinance for 2024, almost a week after the SP approved it.
She added that the SP version of the Calendar Year Executive Budget for 2024 was erroneous, according to the Department of Budget and Management. Details, however, have yet to be furnished by the province.
Meanwhile, SP board member and chairperson of the committee on budget and appropriations Vivencia Secuya, in a video posted on the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro Facebook page, denied claims that the SP board members who supported the current administration refused to approve the proposed executive budget for 2024.
"Dili kana tinuod! Kay ngano man? Una ako ang chairperson committee on budget and appropriations, nganong mo-NO man ta?... Nag-YES gyud ko sa approval sa annual budget tungod kay gikinahanglan na gyud kining aprobahan (That's not true! Why would we do that? First, I am the chairperson of the committee on budget and appropriations, why would I say NO?... I said YES for the approval of the annual budget because we need to approve it immediately)," Secuya said.
She explained it was not the annual budget that they refused to approve but the deletion or the reappropriation of the confidential funds by the majority of the SP board members.
She also alleged that those who spread words that the supporters of the current administration said NO to the proposed budget only wanted to destroy their reputation.
She said they could not discuss the proposed annual budget because the SP prolonged the approval of the AIP, which is the prerequisite for the discussion of the annual budget. CEA
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