By Ven rebo Arigo
Capitol is not in the practice of releasing funds without the necessary documentation for proper liquidation. stressed Gov. Edgar Chatto as he clarified the continued clamor of Mayor Dan Lim that the city is not given a share of the 20% Development Fund.
"If the mayor is fond of releasing funds minus the supporting documents, we can never do that at the Capitol," stressed the governor who clarified that this is the reason why the province can not release any funding to the city from the 20% development fund since Mayor Lim has not submitted documentation nor formal proposal of projects.
Still crazy over the other's 20% Development Fund, Mayor Lim was again corrected of his misunderstanding of the fund which he demanded to be equally shared among the local government units (LGUs) to justify his own fiscal want.
In Lim's wrong perception, Capitol should literally share the fund to Tagbilaran City and 47 towns, which are component LGUs of the province, even if no law mandates it.
Town mayors led by their president, Loay Mayor Rosemarie Imboy, last week assailed Lim's unauthorized use of their resolution which requested Gov. Edgar Chatto to allocate P1 million from the province's 20% DF for each of their respective LGUs.
They were at the same time shocked that the request of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) - Bohol Chapter was already published in full even if it was not yet even delivered to or discussed with the governor.
It was published as a paid advertisement, printed in full together with Lim's own letter in a local weekly.
It was obviously designed to mislead the people into thinking that it was a support to the seemingly warped view and sweeping demand of the city mayor.
LMP officers and members clarified that theirs was not a demand but an "appropriate, civil" request which was made long before the city hall official's demanding letter to the governor was even written.
Others explained that they know for a fact that many provincial government projects in the towns cost several millions, depending on their impact on the total development of the province as a whole.
In insisting on his baseless claim, Lim implied that any and all provincial programs and projects that do not actually pass through the purse of city hall under him are programs and projects that "deprive the city and its people of their just due."
This contradicts the practice of the capitol with Chatto at his helm of delivering services to the Boholano constituents in all component LGUs, includingTagbilaran City, through the implementation of projects and programs provincewide.
These are incorporated in the development plans and annual investment program as mandated by law.
The city mayor was evidently more confused when he said that the governor refused to categorically state his (Chatto) position on the Lim issue that city hall must get its share from the province's 20% DF.
The governor was quite disturbed by the mayor's failure, if not plain dislike to understand, the substance and import of his November 18 letter-response, which was self-explanatory "that even non-lawyers could easily grasp."
On November 25, the mayor wrote another demanding letter to the governor.
This time in reply to the above---and even at the expense of repetitively explaining---the governor reminded the mayor of the absence of any provision in the Local Government Code of 1991 or Republic Act 7160 to support Lim's claim.
Not even in spirit that the Code mandates for the equal distribution of the 20% DF of the province to its component LGUs, said Chatto who is regarded by various merit-granting institutions as one of the ablest governors in the country today.
The mayor invoked a legal opinion of a former DILG regional director, but who did not say nor intimate that the fund is to be distributed in the form of shares to the LGUs.
In stark contrast, what the Code mandates is for the provinces, cities, municipalities and barangays to allocate in their respective annual budgets not less than 20% of their Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) for development projects based on their development plans.
This is the 20% DF that the LGUs from the level of provinces to barangays are mandated to appropriate in their respective annual budgets to fund their development projects.
The governor would like to understand that pursuant to this mandate, Lim has appropriated the city's 20% DF for the development projects to be executed in his component 15 city barangays.
Since the 20% DF is intended by the Code for development works Bohol-wide based on the approved plan of the province, this should also be true with the 20% DF of the city based on the latter's approved development plan.
Capitol's 20% DF is not given in the form of cash but projects pursuant to the implementation of the provincial development plan as approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
CITY BARANGAY
CONCERNS IGNORED
As in practice, capitol under Chatto has been ably providing assistance to the city barangays on several concerns that have been turned down or ignored by the city hall leadership.
"It is ironic that you should be advising us on the principle of 'sharing' the 20% DF when some of your very own barangays have been, quite frankly, ignored by your administration," the governor pointedly told Lim.
This has left the barangays fending for themselves and seeking assistance from other institutions such as the provincial government, said Chatto whose assertions are true according to city barangay leaders themselves.
On the other hand, the same barangay leaders doubted the assertion of the mayor that he would attend any capitol activity.
This is because the mayor had long sounded loud his refusal to cooperate with the provincial government in Chatto's time.
Petty politics is Lim's widely believed motive, according to political pundits.
The governor reminded the mayor that the provincial government already convened meetings to which all mayors were invited but "you did not attend these meetings."
There were numerous invitations to other development forums sponsored by the province which were extended to all mayors which Lim likewise refused to attend.
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