Let's not raise false hopes – Zulueta
Whatever it is that Iloilo City councilor Eldrid Antiquiera seeks to achieve in proposing to bestow the "Distinguished Public Service Award" to 'graduating' barangay chairpersons and councilors in the city of Iloilo who have completed three terms after the implementation of the Local Government Code may have to wait a little longer.
This, after the said proposal was referred to several Sangguniang Panlungsod committees and city department offices for study, report and recommendation during last Wednesday's regular session of the city legislature following a lengthy discussion on the matter.
Based on Antiquiera's proposal, an improvement of a similar plan by colleague Kagawad Jeffrey Ganzon last year, punong barangays that have completed three consecutive terms in the said office after the implementation of Republic Act No. 7160 would receive the "Distinguished Public Service Award" and the P20,000 cash incentive that comes with it. Members of the Sangguniang Barangay who have completed three successive terms, meanwhile, would each receive P5,000. Under the proposal, the awardee barangay officials would receive the cash award immediately upon the expiration of their third term.
The neophyte city councilor also informed the body that he had already talked with Mayor Jerry Treñas about it and that the city chief executive is amenable to the proposal being implemented by next year.
This, however, elicited questions from Councilor Perla Zulueta, who pointed out during the session a report that recently came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer about a similar cash incentive scheme by the City of Manila for retired members of its Sanggunian, which ended up being disallowed by the Commission on Audit for lack of legal basis.
"Also, I talked just a while ago with Mayor (Jerry) Treñas and he told me that he did not categorically promise to provide funds for the said proposal, especially in light of the COA opinion on the matter. What the mayor told me is that this can only be possible if there is legal basis for it and still depending on the availability of funds," Zulueta, dubbed the "Iron Lady of the City Council," further said.
Earlier, the lady councilor was in the phone with City Treasurer Katherine Tingson, who told her "it would be impossible for the city government to grant such benefits, at least for 2007" due to financial constraints.
False hopes?
Zulueta, however, clarified that she is not entirely against the idea, only that she doesn't want to raise false hopes among those who stood to benefit from the proposal.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm all for giving you everything that you deserve. I just don't want you to entertain false hopes that you would be receiving this and that. I don't want you to end up like those Manila city councilors who were asked to return the money they received from this cash incentive scheme after the COA ruled it as without legal basis," the veteran lady legislator told those present during the session, including about a dozen 'graduating' barangay captains who Antiquiera apparently asked to attend to show support for the proposed measure.
"If in 2008 the city would then be awash with cash that giving out these cash incentives is already a possibility, well and good; we would be most happy to grant these cash awards. Provided, of course, that there is legal basis for doing so because we don't want to get into any trouble with the COA or the Ombudsman," Zulueta further quipped.
After the matter has been exhaustively discussed, with several members taking the floor to express their sentiments on the proposed measure, the proposal was referred to the Sanggunian committees on legal matters, barangay affairs and appropriations and the Local Finance Committee and the City Legal Office, for study, report and recommendation.