MABALACAT CITY – Mabalacat Councilor Jeng Yumul has denied accusations that members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod “have been given P300,000 each to approve a preceding supplemental budget.”
Yumul told members off the Mabalacat City Council “that certain persons, whether using fake accounts or not, have been critical of the Sanggunian Panlungsod, in the matter of approving a supplemental budget of P204 million pesos.”
“The accusations are an affront to our dignity and to the SP itself because we are pictured to be wanting in money – that we cannot approve a SP measure such as a supplemental budget, in exchange for thousands of pesos,” said Yumul.
“I rise here to defend my name and honor and that of SP Basilio that supposedly we are opposing the supplemental budget because we demand more than the P1 million peso promised to be given to my fellow SP members.
You might as well know that I have never objected to a SP action or measure when the best interest of our constituents are the ones at stake. “Kailan pa ako, kung natatandaan ninyo ako umayaw” or said “NO” when this concern is for our constituents.
“For the benefits of our constituents, I would not even dare or keep in my mind, a delaying tactic to have the benefits of our people under a HOLD status. That I cannot tolerate. I hope that our people – the object of our budget – will not brand me a filibustering councilor. That is far even beyond my wildest imagination.”
Yumul said he was questioning if the first supplemental budget was already liquidated. “I see nothing wrong in asking because I would like us to appear before the eyes of our people that we truly are transparent in our doings in the SP,” said Yumul.
Yumul was being accused of “wanting more than P1 million pesos for signing or affixing my signature on the proposed supplemental budget.”