AMENDED SP ORDINANCE GIVES CITY MAYOR DISCRETION OVER GRANTING OF ASSISTANCE TO CONSTITUENTS
The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) has amended its Ordinance No. 28, Series of 2021, otherwise known as the “Bulig sa Kubos” Program of the City of Koronadal and Providing for its Guidelines and Appropriation hereof.
The said legislation, passed in November last year, aims to provide assistance in covering medical and funeral expenses to the qualified beneficiaries through a standard system and well-defined guidelines.
However, after receiving negative feedbacks and complaints from the beneficiaries regarding the new policies and the standard system set by the Sanggunian, Mayor Eliordo Ogena was compelled to write the SP a letter requesting them to amend its ordinance.
In response to the mayor’s request, the SP enacted Ordinance No. 2, Series of 2022, amending Ordinance No. 28, Series of 2021 wherein significant amendments have been introduced.
In Section 5.d of the General Guidelines, revisions in the amount of the assistance a beneficiary/grantee may receive were made.
Meanwhile, item e of Section 5, which was inserted to highlight the discretion of the City Mayor or the OIC-City Mayor to increase assistance on a case-to-case basis, provides, “However, the City Mayor or the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) City Mayor may, if necessary and reasonable considering the gravity and severity of the circumstance/situation/medical condition, on a case-to-case basis, decide to increase the assistance provided in this ordinance and expand the services and assistance not covered herein.”
With this development, the local chief executive clarified that he is not against the “bracketing” system introduced by the SP. He added that he is somehow satisfied with the SP’s decision to revise some items in the original ordinance.
“With this new ordinance, I can live with this and I am satisfied, although there are some restrictions. I don’t have biases and I have always used my discretion soundly when giving financial, medical and burial assistance and donations”, Mayor Ogena said during his interview in the city’s weekly Development Program, “Tingog sa Pagsanyog”, aired through the city’s Facebook page.
Social services, according to Mayor Ogena, is one of his priorities among his flagship programs anchored in his Ten (10) Point Development Agenda.
