MEMBERS of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) in Misamis Oriental took turns lambasting online trolls who spread allegations that the eight hospitals operated by the provincial government had their budget slashed by the legislators this year.
During their weekly session April 13, provincial board member Dexter Yasay said the trolls’ claim that the Misamis Oriental Provincial Hospitals were only budgeted P2 million for the whole year is an outright lie and misleading.
Yasay said that what they slashed last January was the special purpose program of the provincial health office.
This was the P97 million budget proposed by Gov. Juliette Uy which the provincial legislators disapproved P95 million, leaving only P2 million.
According to online trolls, the P2 million was the only budget approved by the SP for the hospitals located in Gingoog City, Balingasag, Manticao, Initao, Talisayan, Magsaysay, Alubijid and Claveria.
But Yasay accused the trolls of intentionally lying to the public since the P97 million proposal was never intended for the hospitals in the first place.
He said the amount was intended for consultancy (P30 million) and repairs and maintenance (P66 million) for the provincial health office.
“The executive – particularly the local finance committee – could not explain and failed to itemize these amounts. So we disapproved this,” Yasay said, adding that the executive branch was given ample time to produce documents such as the national tax allocation, fund utilization, total excise tax collections, receipts from local fund sources and quarry income to justify their proposal – and failed to do so.
Instead, Yasay said the SP approved a total of P694 million for the operation of the eight hospitals in 2026.
The breakdown is as follows: Gingoog City (P142 million); Balingasag (P97 million); Manticao (P87 million); Initao (P87 million); Talisayan (P83 million); Magsaysay (P60 million); Alubijid (P80 million); and Claveria (P56 million).
SP member Rommel Maslog threatened to slap the trolls with a cyberlibel case if “they continue to spread the lies.”
