AS the series of hearings for the Cebu provincial government’s proposed P3.6-billion annual budget for next year starts this week, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III enjoins the Provincial Board (PB) not to slash it.
The governor said the executive’s proposal is a “realistic” budget that he hoped would be approved in full by the PB.
“Since 2013, we’ve been proposing a realistic budget nga mohaom sa atong panginahanglan (that would fit our needs). So I’m hopeful that the Provincial Board will act on it and approve the entire budget,” he said in an interview.
He added that the executive’s budget proposal went through stringent scrutiny starting from the time they were proposed by each of the department at the Capitol.
“Now, it’s the turn of the Provincial Board to ask questions about the budget that we submitted. And so, we hope that they will approve it,” Davide said.
The PB, through the committee on budget and appropriations, will conduct marathon hearings on the 2017 budget proposal from November 22 to 24.
Each department will present their respective budget proposals to the PB.
Among the biggest budget proposals is for hospital operations, amounting to P881.9 million, which is about P235.9 million higher than the P646-million budget for hospital operations this year.
According to Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas, the proposed increase will be for the upgrading of the provincial hospitals in the cities of Carcar and Danao from level 1 to level 2. The upgrading will mean more beds for the two hospitals and more constituents to be served.
The executive is also asking for a bigger budget of P30 million for medical supplies, from this year’s approved budget of P23 million.
Other departments and offices budget include, among others: Provincial Health Office, P488 million; Office of the Governor, P614.8 million; Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, P135 million; Provincial Disaster Risk the Reduction and Management Office, P166 million; Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, P118 million; Provincial Agriculture Office, P109 million; and Provincial Veterinary Office, P34 million.
The executive’s total proposed budget of P3.6 billion is only about P200 million higher than their approved budget this year of P3.4 billion.