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The budget nooses

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 Conflicts arise when personal interests collide.

This is now front and center at the Laoag City Sangguniang Panlungsod as two warring factions are duking it out for the city government's 2019 annual budget.

The budget proposal, submitted October 16, 2018, remains unpassed for months, and was disapproved via vote of 7-5 in a special session on January 3, 2019.

Though unlike in the Unites States of America where an unapproved budget results in a shutdown, Philippine laws call for an automatic reenactment of the last approved budget when this happens.

But what will happen to a local government operating on a reenacted budget?

All operations are hampered: from basic services to employee salaries and city government projects. This is so as the city government is forced to operate using last year's budget. And common sense dictates that past expenditures are usually lower than present expenditures; more so in the face of high inflation rates last year. It will more so affect all forms of public services, which are expected from the city government.

This is an easily preventable situation. The city council, after all, had more than two months to study, scrutinize and to correct possible faults and flaws in the proposed budget.

And for a faction to raise questions now to hinder the budget ordinance's passage is nothing short of politicizing the issue; we are, after all, already in the middle of election season.

Today's zeitgeist may be more about division, fanning hate and exclusion but as elected officials, they are expected to think of public welfare first and last, always and all the time.

And in light of this, the most prudent—and really best—thing to do is for the council to just pass the budget.

If there may be irregularities in the proposed budget, as the new majority avers, then they will just have to watch the implementation of the budget closer. After all, even if they do stumble upon something while they re-scrutinize the proposed 2019 budget, there will never really be anything that can do but to reprogram the funds. They cannot make any drastic changes since they do not hold the absolute majority.

As we get deeper into 2019, the noose tightens for whichever faction the public deem responsible for the dire consequences that may arise from the unpassed budget. And if this just a political ploy, the people of Laoag will see through it. And whoever ends up on the wrong end will really suffer come election day.

If our councilors really do think of the city’s residents first and foremost, then they should set aside any political animosity and just pass the 2019 budget. After all, both factions can move on from there and show who really deserve the people’s vote in the coming midterm elections.

For if there are really irregularities in the budget, the majority should give the administration enough rope to hang themselves; otherwise their continued hindering of the budget’s passage will only tighten the nooses on their collective necks.

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