Roxas City council approves P134-M supplemental budget

By Felipe V. Celino 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz – The Sanggunian Panlungsod (SP) here on Tuesday approved the P134,594,639 supplemental budget requested by Mayor Ronnie Dadivas.

The budget was taken from last year’s savings.

City Councilor Midelo Ocampo said the said amount will be used for the construction of a food court at the Teodoro Arcenas Trade Center (TATC), road asphalt overlay and reblocking.

Part of the budget is also intended for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response.

Meanwhile, P33 million was allocated for the purchase of three ambulances, 10 pick-up trucks, and two buses.

Also included in the budget request is P35 million for the purchase of additional rice to be distributed to all families in Roxas City from October to December 2021.

The city council earlier this year appropriated P40 million for the rice distribution program of the city government wherein each family received 10 kilos of rice as part of the COVID-19 response.

Councilor Moreno Gonzaga has asked the committee on trade and industry chaired by city councilor Trina Marie Ignacio to furnish a list of rice beneficiaries and other documents to prove that the P40 million budget was already exhausted.

Gonzaga said that he is not opposing the program of Dadivas but he only wanted the program to be implemented properly.

Gonzaga said he received a complaint that some outsiders from Roxas City were recipients of the rice program.