CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Sept. 17 (PNA) -– The City Council here will embark on an inquiry about allegations on the non-release of budget for the city’s senior citizens, Councilor Prexy Elipe said Thursday.
Elipe, chair of the committee on finance, ways and means, expressed alarm about the report of a colleague that the budget intended for the city’s senior citizens from 2013 to 2014 has not been released.
City Councilor Leon Gan made a special report during the regular session last Monday about the complaints of the city’s senior citizens on the non-release of the budget intended for them.
“The senior citizens are complaining of alleged non-payment of electric bills for some months and the need for the repair of comfort rooms and other facilities at the senior citizen’s office here,” Gan said.
Aside from the non-release of the budget for the operation and maintenance of the senior citizens’ office here, the senior citizens themselves complained that the city government did not pay their allowances in full, Gan said.
Gan, who expressed bewilderment on the non-release of the budget assigned to the senior citizens, urged the local august body to take action on the plight of the senior citizens here.
Elipe said that he could remember that the City Council has approved an increase of the senior citizens’ annual budget from about PHP 6 million to PHP 9 million this year or an addition of PHP 3 million.
He said that the probe should be conducted not to find fault or cast doubts on anybody, but to determine whether the budget has been released and find out how the money is spent. (PNA)