MikeLigalig.com

Written By Ven Arigo

City barangay health workers (BHWs) who have no blue cards given in the last election period have been deprived of their P1,000 monthly honorarium since April.

This, even as the meager compensation for their occasionally hazardous jobs is mandated in an ordinance, according to city hall sources.

These frontline deliverers of basic health services to the grassroots have been perceived to be not inclined to the city administration in the last polls.

But Councilor Danilo Bantugan was blunt in telling his Sangguniang Panlungsod colleagues on Wednesday that the granting of the honorarium is a “discretion of the mayor”.

He said the city government and BHWs have no employer-employee relationship.

Notwithstanding Bantugan’s thinking, Councilor Alberta Torralba wished that the council can help the BHWs in this plight.

The lady lawmaker, who is the city president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC), murmured on her seat inside the session hall: “Mao na na modayon og panghunaw. Pero kon ilang gusto, dali-dali-on.” She named no names in alluding.

The non-granting of the city hall honoraria to the BHWs who could not present blue cards was raised when Bantugan sought for an SP authority for the mayor to contract the services of three consultants for arts and culture, environment and Early Childhood Development or Day Care, the latter now implementing the so-called multiple intelligence (MI) approach.

Each consultant is paid P20,000 monthly.

Councilor moved to defer action on the Bantugan move until the concerned contractual workers can appear and present their credentials to the council.

Besides, Kapirig said the performance report of the consultant on the MI system in Day care during the closing session of the last SP was “not satisfactory.” He said “it failed.”

Meanwhile, some SP members fumed mad over a wrong media report that they blocked the proposed supplemental budget of more than P11 million.

As desired by Mayor Dan Lim, the appropriation will be allocated for the following: P4.6 million, asphalt overlay on Gallares St.; P4.5 million, road repair and maintenance; P4 million, early retirement package; and P2.4 million, for the mayor’s office.

Although Councilor Edgar Bompat acted as the presiding officer in the last session, Acting Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso defended his SP colleagues, saying that the proposed fund was not blocked.

The mayor endorsed the supplemental budget to the council only on October 8, and the SP quickly referred it to the appropriations committee in its session last Wednesday, Veloso clarified.

Councilor Lucio Balbin expressed dismay over suspected attempts pushing the co-equal executive and legislative chambers to the heat.

Before referring the supplemental budget for study, the council granted, in the same session, the mayor an authority to engage in a P4 million loan with any bank or financial institution “for the purchase of six motor vehicles.”

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