By Dominic B. dela Cruz
Staff reporter
Batac
City—Citing the high amount that would have
been given to barangay chairpersons and kagawads who served for three
consecutive terms, Batac Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta vetoed City Ordinance No.
3 SP2015-03.
The said ordinance would have
authorized the conferment of Exemplary Public Service Award (EPSA) to the
city’s barangay officials who have served three consecutive terms.
Mr. Nalupta pointed out that
the P50,000 for barangay chairperson and P30,000 for kagawad are too high and
the city government would again have difficulties in producing the said
amounts.
The three-term mayor also
said there are many other programs and activities in the City Development Plan
(CDP) that also needs funding. He stressed that the CDP is a five-year plan and
all programs, projects and activities for that time span have been incorporated
along with their estimated costs.
He also stressed that the
vetoed ordinance may also become a source of dissension in the barangay as
other barangay officials and workers may demand the same.
City government officials may
also request for the same, he added, since retiring local government employees
are not given retirement pays by the city government.
He further disclosed that the
amended ordinance also called for the inclusion of financial grants retroactive
to 1997, which he said would become an additional burden for the city
government.
Should the authors of the
ordinance revisit it and substantially decrease the amounts involved, Mr.
Nalupta said he “might consider it.”
“It would be unfair if I’m
giving P50,000 to a kapitan and
P35,000 to a kagawad and I am giving
P10,000 to a retired teacher and I am giving nothing to city employees, barangay
tanod, BHW, BNS and BSPO,” Mr. Nalupta explained.
Meanwhile, Batac Vice Mayor
and council Sangguniang Panlungsod presiding officer Ronald Allan M. Nalupta
lamented the rejection of the said ordinance.
“Nakalaladingit appo ta umuna unay, haan met a kasdiay kadakkel na
daytoy ti ited tayo ken maikadwa, daytoy ket saan a unique iti Batac appo ta adda metten it ited ken agdama a proyekto ken programa nga it
ited iti Quezon City ken
ParaƱaque”, the vice mayor said.
Vice Mayor Nalupta, who is
the main author of the ordinance said that the elected barangay officials only
receive honoraria and what they receive are just tokens and very far compared
to the rate of a job-orders employed in
a local government unit.
The vice mayor added that despite
the gap in payment rates, barangay officials are also the first responders in
all events of the city government.
The vice mayor said he will
definitely re-file the measure based on the recommendations and suggestions
made by the city mayor.
The measure was unanimously
approved by all members of the city council and co–authored by councilors Winet
Quidang, Ibarra Crisostomo, Elmer Pungtilan and the committee on barangay
affairs.
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