[ Manila Bulletin Online ] July 2, 2008
GMA disapproves automatic appropriation in national budget
BAGUIO CITY — The supposed P125-million share of this mountain resort city from the operation of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) here has been scrapped.
This developed as President Arroyo vetoed a provision of the P1.227-trillion national budget this year that earmarked the city’s share of at least P125 million for the period from 1995 to 2002.
Both Houses of Congress, under the so-called automatic appropriation rule, approved the P125-million tax share of the city in the proceeds from the operation of the PEZA in the city. The fund was intended to be utilized for large-scale projects that could not be funded with local funds.
However, President Arroyo declared that the rule on automatic appropriation does not conform with provisions of the Special Economic Zone Act.
But some city finance experts said the share of the city government should not just be an "insertion" but a separate appropriation.
In the past several months, city officials have been boasting about the P125-million share, saying this would be used to bankroll the rehabilitation of the Baguio Athletic Bowl and other impact projects of the city government.
But they said they will continue to exert efforts at their level so that the city government could collect soon the multi-million-peso share.
They expected that all projects to be funded by the P125-million share would be completed before the centennial celebration of the city next year.
The city government is pursuing the development of Burnham Park, where the Athletic Bowl is located, in a bid to attract more tourists to the city and to have another place of interest in the premier park.
At present, the children’s playground is undergoing a massive facelift to provide it a new look.
Some sectors criticized city officials for being too confident about the release of the P125-million share in a period of seven years, saying that it seems that they are giving too much priority to politicking over the welfare of the residents.
Aside from improving the Athletic Bowl, some of the fund, if collected, would be earmarked for the construction of a four-storey structure in the Mines View Park to house the many vendors who are considered eyesores in the area and save the famous park from being removed from the list of tourist destinations in the city.
The rehabilitation of the Athletic Bowl is being given attention by the city officials so that the city could bid for the hosting here of next year’s Palarong Pambansa.
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