Cebu City Executive Department Seeks DILG Say on Council Sitting on PhP2.8-B SB1

The Cebu City government’s executive department has sought the opinion of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Cebu City over the City Council’s decision to sit on the proposed PhP2.8-billion supplemental budget (SB1) this year.

Cebu City Administrator Lucelle Mercado wrote DILG City Director Danilo Almendras to ask if the continued refusal of the legislative body to tackle and approve the SB1 is proper.

She said the SB1 was submitted to the council last Aug. 14 yet and three months after, it has not been approved.

In her eight-page letter dated Nov. 13, Mercado said the executive department is firm on its stand that the public bidding conducted by the Cebu City government for the disposal of the 45.2-hectare lot at the South Road Properties (SRP) is regular.

The source of fund for the SB1 is the more than PhP8.3- billion down payment from the SRP sale.

The majority bloc of the council, though, doesn’t want the amount to be used due to the case filed by lawyer Romulo Torres, a taxpayer from Barangay Basak San Nicolas.

Torres questioned the mode of disposal of the lots and asked the court to stop the council from appropriating any amount from the PhP8.3 billion.

Mercado told Almendras that the disposal of the SRP lots is covered by Resolution No. 13-0418-2014 passed by the council on Aug. 13 last year.

The same resolution authorized Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in behalf of the city to negotiate and dispose the lots through public bidding to any interested party. (PNA) SCS/EB/SSC