CAGAYAN de Oro’s 21st City Council approved a more than P9 billion proposed budget for 2026 on Monday, Oct. 27, but not without political friction as minority floor leader Councilor Agapito Suan criticized the estimate as “unreasonable.”
The budget ordinance pegs the city’s 2026 resources at P8,288,070,808 from the general fund and P1,261,929,122 from local economic enterprises.
Majority members moved to approve Ordinance No. 2025-109 through a vote, while the two-member minority bloc — Suan and Councilor Imee Rose Moreno — objected.
“We find it unreasonable and it is an over estimation,” Suan said.
He pointed out that the city’s actual income collection last year was only P5.2 billion. He questioned how the city expects a sudden additional P3 billion in revenue within three years.
“From 2024 to 2026, naa lugar tay additional P3 billion,” Suan said, adding he asked the council during Friday’s deliberation where that amount would come from. He described the projection as “very alarming.”
Suan said the income behavior of the city does not match the optimism embedded in the approved budget.
But majority floor leader Councilor Edgar Cabanlas defended the spending plan, saying the council already trimmed the original P10 billion proposal by P600 million to keep the projections realistic.
“Very conservative kani nga estimate kay mas ubos kini sa 2024 nga budget. Ato pa gyud gipa-reduce og P600 million kay sa atong bana-bana, atong makab-ot kana nga target,” Cabanlas said.
He insisted the approved budget merely reflects the city’s confidence in its economic performance.
“Ang atong income atong ipadool sa atong actual nga nakobra o nadawat,” he added.
The council’s contrasting narratives — minority warnings of overreach versus majority assurances of fiscal discipline — hinted at a contentious budget implementation year ahead as Cagayan de Oro prepares for 2026.
