THE Misamis Oriental Sangguniang Panlalawigan led by board member Rommel Maslog in his capacity as finance committee chair has summoned key officials of the province after Gov. Juliette Uy vetoed parts of the 2026 budget.
Maslog said that the committee will convene this Thursday (March 12) and requested the presence of the provincial treasurer, provincial budget officer and provincial accountant.
Local legislatures can only invite but cannot compel those they are summoning to appear. They also don’t have power to cite anyone in contempt.
Still, Maslog is hopeful that the move is meant to reconcile the proposed budget submitted by the governor versus what the Sanggunian approved last January.
Uy proposed a P4.495-bilion budget for this year but the board members approved only P3.3 billion or a slash of P1.195 billion.
It was a very steep decrease of P2.5 billion from the previous year’s budget of P5.8 billion which is a significant departure from conventional norms when government budgets usually increase every year.
Uy promptly vetoed parts of the approved budget and delivered it back to the Sanggunian.
“Ato studyhan ang explanation sa iyang veto. Basin naa siyay nakit-an nga wala namo nakit-an. Ug basin naa pud mi nakit-an nga wala niya makit-an so ato kini i-reconcile,” Maslog said.
With that, Maslog is asking the invited officials to produce key documents such as fund utilization, total excise tax collections, receipts from local fund sources and quarry income all from the previous year, among others.
Uy emerged as the winner in the 2025 elections while majority of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan belong to the party of her rival, former Gov. Peter Unabia.
Since assuming office last June, the executive and legislative entities of the province have been in constant disagreements on a number of issues.
