FIRST DAY MISA DE GALLO SCENE
A life size artwork of the three kings made up of cotton sacks and steel frames made by Barangay San Roque residents is one of the scenes seen at the start of last Friday’s Misa de Gallo at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Hundreds of people attended the first day of the 9- day masses, which was officiated by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).
The Cebu Provincial government is hoping that the Cebu Provincial Board will approve the P3.6 billion proposed budget for 2017 this Monday, which is the PB’s last regular session of the year before it goes on a break.
Danilo Rodas, Cebu Provincial Budget Officer, said yesterday that he was confident that the PB would approve the proposed budget but in the event that it would not be approved, then the provincial government would move under a reenacted budget for the meantime.
Reenacted budget
Under a reenacted budget, the local government unit will operate under the previous year’s budget with regard to essential expenses for personnel services and other relevant miscellaneous expenses.
Capital expenditures for projects to be implemented, however, are not included in the reenacted budget.
“Pwede man, bisan pa’g until February, Marso, pwede ra (It will be okay even if they would approve it in February or March),” Rodas said.
“There is no deadline as to when they will approve the budget. It is just that the provincial government’s movement would be limited especially in the executive department if it will be a reenacted budget, where only essential expenses are included. If we have projects then they cannot be implemented. It is only the electricity, salaries which can move,” said Rodas in Cebuano.
Budget scrutinized
The provincial board, through the committee on budget and appropriations, conducted marathon hearings on the 2017 budget proposal last November 22 to 24.
In the proposed budget, the hospital operations got the biggest allotment of P881.9 million, which is about P235.9 million higher than the P646-million budget for hospital operations this year.
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 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.
Gov confident
For his part, Gov. Hilario Davide III said that he is likewise confident that the provincial board will approve the proposed budget because it has already gone through close scrutiny.
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