The city government has allocated the P166 million unused environmental fees to fund the construction of sanitary and tourism facilities.
City Environment and Natural Resources (City ENRO) chief Atty. Carlo Gomez, during the question hour at the City Council on Monday, said that there was a verbal agreement between him and mayor Lucilo Bayron to allocate P16 million from the total amount to fund the conduct of a feasibility study and environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of the proposed environmental management facility in Barangay Bahile.
City budget officer Regina Cantillo affirmed Gomez’s statement citing that the fund was already included in the city’s 2020 budget allocation.
“Yung P25M for the wastewater facility and P406K for solar panels, labas pa po ito sa P166 million na unused environmental fee collection,” Cantillo said.
Lawyer Gomez also told the city council that they plan on recommending the construction of a P300M-worth wharf in Sitio Sabang, Brgy. Cabayugan.
City councilor Peter “Jimbo” Maristela upheld Gomez’s additional recommendation citing that the unused environmental fees may initially be used for the project and to be supplemented by the city’s internal revenue allotment (IRA).
“Gamitin na natin yung pera dahil kung hihintayin pa natin mapuno (yung pondo) baka mas matagalan pa,” Maristela said.
The Question Hour about the unused environmental fees was scheduled following Maristela’s privileged speech delivered on October 7 criticizing the city government for its alleged failure to put the collected fees to use.
