Ghost Workers in the Orig. Dagupan’s Budget?

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

One of the reasons why the vaunted P1.3 billion proposed 2023 budget of the local government unit (LGU) of Dagupan City was chopped off significantly to almost P865 million by the opposition’s majority lawmakers because they feared that Mayor Belen T. Fernandez had submitted a “ghost” or fictitious employees reek budget.

“Ibigay mo ang mga pangalan ng empleyado we will appropriate fund there. We don’t want ghost employees in Dagupan City,” stalwart Councilor Red Erfe-Mejia told reporters before the legislature approved the P864, 938, 971.99 budget last March 28.

He said there was a jurisprudence where Councilors in other LGU in the country were sued criminally because they approved a budget with spurious workers embedded in the budget.

“Ayaw po naming makasuhan kaya po kami nag-iingat sa pagtiwala sa mga pera ng taong bayan doon sa nakatangap na job order employees”.

Fault Lies on La Mayora Belen

If the sensationalized slashing of the budget spawned in the social media and there was crying and seething of teeth among the 769 job order (J.O) workers, 2,500 new scholars, emergency workers in the City Health Office, POSO, Library, doctors and nurses in the diagnostic clinic, staff at the Tondaligan Beach Park and others, the fault lies to La Mayora Belen after the workers especially learned that they had been yanked out in the payroll this April.

It was the fault of La Mayora because since February the Opposition Dads met with her and the Department of Interior & Local Government Region-1 Director Agnes de Leon where they plead that she must submit the list of those workers so they could be appropriated with their salaries.

 Majority Leader Mejia told the lady mayor that there was no problem with the expeditious passing of the ballyhooed delayed budget as long as she submitted the names of those J.Os. But to no avail La Mayora – just like the Great Wall of China built by her forefathers – kept stonewalling em’ up to the near deadline mandated by the Local Government Code of the Philippines.

“But when we have a meeting with the DILG Regional Director kaharap ko si Mayor Belen. Sinabi ng DILG na ibigay ni Mayor Belen iyong mga pangalan ng job order employees. Mismong regional director na ang nagsasabi kay Mayor Belen pero hindi pa rin sinusunod ni Mayor Belen. So kanino po takot si Mayor Belen?” Mejia lamented.

With all the acrimonies instigated by the office of the mayor and those scathing attacks from its lap dogs and paid hacks in the media, what Mejia et al. dubbed as the Magic -7 (seven out of the 12 lawmakers not the Black Magic Woman, susmariosep, belted by my fav rock band’s Santana) could do is to bombard them with the truth and real issues.

As what George Washington – American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father and first President of the Great United States - says that truth would prevail: “Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pain taken to bring it to light”.

PAIN IN THE ASS of Dagupan Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, the seven opposition lawmakers dubbed as the Magic 7.

Did you remember in January 16 this year when Mayora Belen crowed on her FB Page that she would have a pasabog (expose’) the following day. It was not a real pasabog but a pasabog that went pffft on her face when opposition councilors Malou Fernandez and Alvin Coquia did not defect to her fold to buttress the number of her minority councilors in that meeting of the Local Development Council.

She became a laughing stock by people inside and outside of the coastal city marred by infighting among its recalcitrant majority opposition and acrimonious minority councilors.

I added on my blog titled: Opposition Members Defected to Dagupan Mayor?” there that a DILG honcho in a town sent to me in Facebook a video clip of opposition stalwart Mejia with Coquia and Fernandez in a bar a few days after that failed supposed defection's hullabaloo. The city solons on that video at FB seem to mock the Mayor that they were all ready for their war of attrition with her. La Mayora was responsible for the misery and defeat of their patron former Mayor Brian Lim.

So anong “pasabog” Mayora? 

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The charivaris of the office of the mayor to instigate these J.Os and other workers and their families to “rise up in arms” against these Dads of former Mayor Lim as seen at the videos and photos in the social media (like the city diagnostic clinic, astrodome, sports commission office, and others) would be closed because their workers could no longer be paid) would just fall flat on the face of the instigators again after the affronted masa of Dagupan learned that it was no big deal (but is only enflamed by the office of the mayor)  that needs only – as sine qua non - the submission of the names of those J.O workers and, bingo, a supplemental budget could be reciprocated by the Seven Dads riding on the Power of the Purse bequeathed to them by law.

Only 100 New Approved Scholars

Mejia said only 100 of the 5,000 new scholars proposed by the Mayor were approved, the rest he said could prejudice the budget of the other offices of the LGU. The 5,000 scholars entailed a fund of P200 million. He exhorted the parents that there are scholarships being offered by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), private companies, and colleges and universities

He said the existing scholars under the previous Brian Lim Administration have been added with P7 million for the 100 new scholars to its present P102 million budget.

“Tandaan po natin every year may nag-gagraduate dinadagdagan. Iyan po ang realistic amount for us to be sustainable,” the stalwart Councilor told reporters.

(Send comments to totomortz@yahoo.com)