Over P177M of Tagbilaran City’s 2020 supplemental budget spent on COVID19 measures

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

TAGBILARAN CITY – More than P177 million of the City’s P225 million supplemental budget for 2020 was spent for the various COVID-19 pandemic responses reported the 14th Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) as it closed a legislative calendar of unprecedented acts topped by measures that enabled Tagbilaran City's response to the unusually abnormal time.

Vice mayor Jose Antonio Veloso, presiding the council said that the 14^th SP passed key legislations dominated by how the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on the lives and economy of the City might be ably managed with budgetary backup.

Veloso itemized some of the solid expenditures the council had appropriated for the protection of the city’s constituents.  It purchased the protective personal equipment (PPEs), disinfectant supplies, RT-PCR test kits and relief foods while augmenting the calamity fund, among others.

The SP allocated P40 million Bayanihan fund, realigned the travel allowances of the vice mayor and councilors themselves and sacrificed some P20 million for the construction of the SP building for additional COVID-response supplemental appropriations.

The Bayanihan fund was equivalent to the city's one-month internal revenue allotment (IRA), reported the SP and the City government enabled the distribution of one and a half sack of rice each to its 25,000 households.

According to Ven Arigo of the Provincial Information and Media Relations (PrIMeR) office that the City Council also passed a resolution that authorized the mayor to accept COVID-response grants and donations on behalf of the city government and established an official trust fund for donations to COVID-19 measures.

Arigo went on that the council also passed various ordinances that included the provision for the prevention, mitigation, preparedness for and containment of COVID-19 and imposing sanctions thereof.

 It also created the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and provided for the guidelines on the conduct of health-enhancing physical activities and sports during the COVID-19 pandemic; prescribed guidelines for the entry of authorized persons outside residence (APORs) and prohibiting the use of videoke/karaoke machines/units and other noise-producing devices in the duration of the community quarantine due to the pandemic.

There were also non-COVID ordinances that included the balanced housing program for the homeless and the urban poor; appropriation for the City Livelihood Council; tax exemptions to market tenants who were fire victims among others, Arigo said.

Despite the huge cost of pandemic responses, the 14^th SP also passed supplemental budgets for the benefits and bonuses of the city employees like the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) bonus and P10,000 Service Recognition Incentive (SRI) and allocated P4.7 million for the gratuity pay to the contractual and job order casual workers.

For the first time, the SP passed an ordinance granting honorarium to all Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials, including the secretaries and treasurers in the city's 15 barangays to be given starting January 2021, City SK Pres. Raul Aparici bared.

According to Arigo that even with the pandemic Tagbilaran City was chosen by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) as one of the Most Business Friendly LGUs in 2020 in the country and as the Most Competitive Component City in the Visayas. The city was cited for its swift and active response to the pandemic.

Vice-mayor Veloso expected the council to keep focusing on health and safety promotion measures and assured the executive department of consistent legislative support in pursuit of the city's vision and mission.

"We will also delve more into legislations that facilitate economic recovery including the rehabilitation of our tourism industry and the livelihood of our people as the City will operate with an annual budget of P1.060 billion in 2021 as approved by the SP which is slightly higher than the 2020 budget appropriation,” Veloso said. (Photos: PRIMER/Ven Arigo)