After override, Tupas vetoes anew slashed budget
Governor Niel Tupas in an Executive Decision vetoed anew the slashed Capitol budget in a move now adding to the historical-firsts in the affairs of the Iloilo Provincial Government.
Such as a 'veto letter' was sent yesterday to members of the 9th Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan (SP) through SP Secretary, Atty. Lorenzo Tubola.
The message was direct, "It is with regret that I must VETO Provincial Ordinance No. 2008-074 on the ground that it is ULTRA VIRES and PREJUDICIAL TO THE PUBLIC WELFARE."
And vetoed too, the Governor added, since the SP in his view erred in overriding his earlier veto.
"An Ordinance is a local law. The override of the veto is a collective expression of the sentiments of that august body. The proper form for such override is a Resolution," Tupas told the Legislature.
And it did not end there with the governor asserting the purported prejudicial move of the SP "because it will set a bad precedent whereby the legislature enacts a measure thqt is not properly an Ordinance."
Asked for comment, the governor's nephew Vice Governor Rolex Suplico made a curt reply.
"A sick joke. One sick comical joke," Suplico said in apparent 'disbelief' of the legal move of his uncle. "The Appropriation Ordinance should not have been treated that way. They should have been more serious with their moves."
Yet was there really an error in the part of the SP in overriding the governor's veto in the form of an Ordinance?
Yes and no, two government sources told The News Today (TNT) with one conferring with the Department of Interior Local Government (DILG).
"An Ordinance for an Ordinance and a Resolution for a Resolution. Plus, it is very clear in the Local Government Code that a veto can only be done once," the source said.
"It should have been a Resolution," another said.
Meantime, TNT gathered that annual review of the controversial slashed budget is currently underway with the Department Of Budget and Management (DBM).
The Executive and Legislative squabble stemmed from major cuts made on the governor's initial proposal that reached some P139 million.
From over a billion in proposed budget, the final SP approved Appropriation Ordinance reached only about P867 million.