Guv bars Capitol chiefs from attending budget hearings
Notices for the budget hearings were sent out by the Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan (SP) secretariat addressed to respective section chiefs of the Capitol.
Yesterday, as day one of the budget deliberations began, Governor Niel Tupas Sr. sent his own notice to the vice governor.
The message was clear and direct – respective department heads and chiefs of offices, including hospitals, will no longer attend.
The governor's reason? The hearings will duplicate the budget preparation process already undertaken by the Local Finance Committee.
And as the governor wants his nephew to know – "The 2009 Executive Budget is the product of this budget process and it is our position that the Local Finance Committee would be the appropriate entity to answer questions about any item or items contained therein."
What will happen, Tupas told Suplico, is that the committee will be assisted by the Provincial Legal Officer, Atty Salvador Cabaluna III, in carrying out its mandate.