Naga SP convenes as oversight committee in important hearing

NAGA CITY --- Convening as an oversight committee, the Sangguniang Panglunsod here, chaired by Vice Mayor Cecilia “Nene” de Asis, will hold a special hearing on Wednesday, October 9, to tackle important issues that need to be resolved and deliberated on by all or majority members of the city council in quorum.

Three important items have been laid on the table with a roster of guests and resource persons invited, including members of the local media and the general public where the councilmen are expected to resolve the following:

1. The alleged exorbitant rates being imposed by hotels in the city to guests and clients during every Penafrancia fiesta;

2. Resolution filed by Councilor Jose B. Perez inviting all owners and operators of power lines, cable TV lines and telephone and communication system to shed light on the worsening condition of dangling wires and cables in the city and implore them to find immediate solution to the problem; and

3. The letter of the regional director of the Commission on Audit (COA) in Bicol regarding an interim audit the office has conducted on the city for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2019 and the response of City Accountant Paciencia Tabinas as to the alleged deficiencies noted by COA.

Formal notice and invitations had been sent to all concerned stakeholders, particularly all hotel owners and operators for the first item; cable, telephone and public utility operators, such as Casurecio II that owns most of the electric posts and power lines in the city for the second item; and Ms. Tabinas herself for the third item.

Assembled as one committee or committee of the whole, the Sangguniang Panlungsod is headed by Vice Mayor de Asis as presiding officer, with its ten elected city councilors as members, along with the Liga ng mga Barangay President and Sanggunaing Kabataan (SK) Federation chair as ex-officio members, whose individual votes count in the division of the house and resolution of issues at hand.

Councilor Perez explained that the oversight committee is the council’s most powerful committee that covers investigation and possesses broad jurisdiction and legislative authority which explains why all councilors sit as members.

On the other hand, he added, the other standing committees, including the influential appropriations committee, are chaired respectively by each of the council members with defined or limited jurisdiction whose courses of action are recommendatory and subject to approval by the plenary or the whole council as a collegial body. Normally, the oversight committee meets only once a month.