The minority bloc of the Sangguniang Panlungsud led by City Councilor John Geesnell “Baba” Yap will subject to a “microscopic scrutiny” an authority sought by City Mayor Dan Neri Lim to apply for a P240 million loan application with the Development Bank of the Phils. The number one city councilor is positioning as the leader of the opposition minority after throwing his hat in the city mayoralty derby where he is pitted against two contenders, namely Dr. Abe Lim, his uncle and lawyer Augustinus Gonzaga. Yap runs under the ‘Pundok Panaghiusa’. Expecting fireworks as the loan authority is subjected for deliberation during next week’s city council session, the local opposition made known this early that it is demanding an itemized accounting of where previous appropriations were spent. Part of the demand for itemized accounting was for City Budget Officer Rosemarie Palma and City Engineer Pianicita Castulo to appear during the pre-conference of the city law-making body before the session proper takes place tomorrow.

The opposition said it was only after its members are convinced that there’s a need to approve another tranche of borrowing from the executive department that it will entertain the possibility of another loan application. In a check with City Councilor Bebiano ‘Bebin’ Inting, a member of the committee on appropriations, he said not until Mayor Lim was able to render a balance sheet of expenditures of previous appropriations will the minority block make any attempt to entertain the mayor’s request. Councilor Inting mentioned about the 2012 appropriation of an aggregate total of P135 million which to his own understanding was yet to be accounted for. He said according to information he gathered, P120 million of this outlay which was programmed for road improvement was still unspent if records of disbursements are to be believed. For 2011, he also recalled that an appropriation of P81.4 million was also programmed for road improvement but no record of completion of projects was made available to members of the minority bloc. Citing an irony, Councilor Inting said with all the money poured into road improvement projects, the maverick councilman expressed mock wonder why most of the city roads are in a state of disrepair.

According to the opposition alderman, the authority to apply a loan of P240 million is intended again for the upgrade of road projects in this city. As the two opposing factions in the city council are poised to a showdown next session arising from the loan authority, the apparent trigger of a potential heated debate was the suspicion that part of the money will be used for election purposes of whoever candidates the incumbent administration are supporting. But Mayor Lim, in his radio broadcast yesterday, brushed aside that he was all agog for the approval of the loan request. He said he will not lose sleep if the minority bloc will not tackle the loan negotiation especially so if he is suspected of politicking the issue. Earlier, the same city council, approved an authority for the city to negotiate a loan with the DBP in the amount of P400 million of which P50 million has since been approved and released. Apparently sensing that he can still utilize the same SP authority to negotiate a loan, the city mayor is asking the law-making body to approve an application for P240 million.

In the same broadcast, Mayor Lim clarified the fact that if the same SP approved the loan negotiation of P400 million, he found no reason why a request for P230 will not muster support from the minority. But as insinuated earlier, no way will the minority will not raise a howl once the loan application will be treated for discussion during its session tomorrow. As early as last week, members of the opposition bloc were already raring to raise all kinds of objections against the loan application let alone if they are not satisfied with the explanation they sought as to where the borrowed and appropriated money were being spent. According to reports, one issue the minority will raise in blocking the loan request is the need for a two-thirds vote of the entire SP membership. At a legislative balance at 6-6, mustering eight votes (representing two-thirds) to have the loan negotiation gaining approval from the 12-member council is a tall order for the administration of Mayor Lim. In this case, the city mayor will have to win support of at least two minority bloc members for his “pet loan project” to pass through the city’s legislative gauntlet.