Dabu, other Capitol workers 'ejected' from budget proceedings
By Ian Ocampo Flora
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Pampanga Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu and other Capitol staff who were supposed to observe the hearing for 2008 budget were "ejected" from the proceedings by the members of the Provincial Board (PB) at Max's Restaurant along Jose Abad Santos Avenue here last Wednesday.
The committee en banc hearing officiated by board members Edna David, Catalina Bagasina, Tarcisio Halili, Crisostomo Garbo and Arthur Salalila was to hear the provincial budget for 2008 last December 12 to 13.
However, on the first day of the hearing Dabu and 15 others were not allowed to observe the proceedings.
Members of the media were also not allowed inside the hearing venue.
Halili said Dabu and company were not allowed to stay in the beginning of the hearing because it was not yet their time to make their presentation.
"We are not discriminating anybody here, we asked the people who were not yet supposed to be here to leave and do their work first," Halili said.
When asked why members of the media were not allowed to cover the proceedings, Halili said they did not want to be distracted.
For her part, Dabu said they were asking for "observer" status.
"The budget hearing is still part of the executive and the governor wishes to know what is happening with the proceedings," she said.
Provincial Legal Officer Maria Elissa Velez said the session should be open to the public.
The Local Government Code's Sec 52 states: All council sessions shall be open to the public unless a closed-door session is ordered by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members present, there being a quorum, in the public interest or for reasons of security, decency, or morality.
No two sessions, regular or special, may be held in a single day.
It was learned that the "governor's men" were ejected from the hearing through a motion made by board member Garbo.
The budget hearing scheduled on Thursday was more on the general aspect of the budget.
The members of the PB have first to grill the people involved in the local finance, which includes the budget officer, treasurer, planning and accountant.
This year's budget is set at P1.152 billion.
Meanwhile, Halili said members of the media may get needed information after the session at the end of the day.
If the PB is expecting hindrances in the budget hearing, Halili said it was
still too early to tell.
"So far the hearing is going well though we hope that the presenters would give realistic budget," he said.
However, he was quick to add that they would not be approving budgets not well justified.
On the other hand, some members of the media did not fail to air their annoyance over the PB's move on not allowing them to cover the proceedings.
"This is totally uncalled for the PB should realize that the media should cover the event for the people's interest and that our right to access information is of paramount importance," a broadcast reporter said.
Last Wednesday, Dabu and other department heads entered the proceedings venue to make presentation for the budget of the Office of the Governor.
However, the PB did not recognize Dabu and rejected her as representative of the governor, alluding to the Capitol official's non-confirmation by the legislative body as provincial administrator.
The PB has deferred the hearing on the GO budget until further notice.
Hearings for the budgets of the Management Information System (MIS), Biyayang Luluguran at Sisikapan (Balas), Provincial Information Office (PIO), Arts Culture and Tourism budgets were also deferred due to the casual and non-regular status of most of the heads of the offices.
Dabu said the GO would send a representative that would discuss the budget.
"We are looking at the provincial budget officer to discuss the budget," Dabu said, adding that their representative should be acceptable to the PB members.
However, the 2008 budget has not been fully polished.
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