Zambales vice gov gets zero budget
Not even a single centavo. That, according to Zambales Vice Gov. Ramon Lacbain II, is the state of his office's coffers this year, making him perhaps the first elected official in the country without a budget.
The zero budget, Lacbain said, was the latest ugly turn in the ongoing feud between him and Gov. Vicente Magsaysay.
Magsaysay, Lacbain said, "totally removed" the P3-million budget of his office in 2004. The vice governor was reelected to a second term.
In contrast, he said, Magsaysay's office was allotted P75 million for operations and another P20 million for capital outlay. The latter was incorporated in the budget of the provincial engineer's office.
"What Governor Magsaysay wants is I will just ask from him for whatever I need in my office. It is only in Zambales that a vice governor has no budget of his own. What is even worse is [Magsaysay] wants [me] to personally ask for his signature for my vouchers and checks," Lacbain said in a statement.
in a telephone interview, denied having any hand in the budget appropriations. It was the provincial board, he said, that approved the budget.
He declined to answer other questions and asked that other statements he made during the interview be put off the record.
Lacbain, the presiding officer of the provincial board, said it was Katherine Fan, the board's secretary, whom Magsaysay ordered to prepare the budget.
The League of Vice Governors of the Philippines, in a March 1 resolution, asked President Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the supposed move of Magsaysay.
"I hope President Arroyo can free me from this irregular situation. I cannot perform my functions well as vice governor," said Lacbain.
He said Magsaysay stripped him of funds to diminish his chances in the 2007 elections.
The zero budget, Lacbain said, was the latest ugly turn in the ongoing feud between him and Gov. Vicente Magsaysay.
Magsaysay, Lacbain said, "totally removed" the P3-million budget of his office in 2004. The vice governor was reelected to a second term.
In contrast, he said, Magsaysay's office was allotted P75 million for operations and another P20 million for capital outlay. The latter was incorporated in the budget of the provincial engineer's office.
"What Governor Magsaysay wants is I will just ask from him for whatever I need in my office. It is only in Zambales that a vice governor has no budget of his own. What is even worse is [Magsaysay] wants [me] to personally ask for his signature for my vouchers and checks," Lacbain said in a statement.
in a telephone interview, denied having any hand in the budget appropriations. It was the provincial board, he said, that approved the budget.
He declined to answer other questions and asked that other statements he made during the interview be put off the record.
Lacbain, the presiding officer of the provincial board, said it was Katherine Fan, the board's secretary, whom Magsaysay ordered to prepare the budget.
The League of Vice Governors of the Philippines, in a March 1 resolution, asked President Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the supposed move of Magsaysay.
"I hope President Arroyo can free me from this irregular situation. I cannot perform my functions well as vice governor," said Lacbain.
He said Magsaysay stripped him of funds to diminish his chances in the 2007 elections.
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