- GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Vice Mayor Ian Villaflor of Moises Padilla in Negros Occidental has questioned the move of the Municipal Council to slash its own P2.1-million budget for 2024 already approved on second reading.
Based on the internal rules, there should be no amendments on the budget on the third and final reading, except for the nominal voting for its approval, he said.
He dismissed the move as “illegal”.
Villaflor said that the budget cut affected most the Municipal Council, where the budget for job order and casual employees, fuel and lubricants have been reduced to only P1 each, among others.
No reason was given on the slashing of the budget, he said.
Villaflor said he sought the opinion of the Department of the Interior and Local Government on the matter.
During the committee hearing initiated by the Provincial Board, where he also brought the issue, he said that the members of the Municipal Council were admonished for their illegal move.
Villaflor said he suspects that politics is behind the move of the Municipal Council, where he serves as the presiding officer.
He noted that it came after he left the political party of incumbent Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo.
Yulo and Villaflor have been running mates since 2019. | GB
