Capitol targets P4.5B budget for next year

ABOUT P1.4 billion out of the proposed P4.5-billion budget for the province will go to agencies and programs dealing with health, the Provincial Budget Office said yesterday.

Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas told reporters that P597 million will go to the operations and upgrading of district and provincial hospitals in Cebu.

The rest will go to funding Maintenance and Other Operationg Expenses (MOOE) for the Provincial Health Office. Rodas said the province allocated P200 million for infrastructure.

About P3.8 billion of the proposed budget will cover the MOOE of all offices in the executive and legislative departments.

Next year’s budget is P1.08 billion more than this year’s budget of P3.6 billion. Rodas said the bigger budget is due to the province’s increased revenue.

State auditors said the province earned P32.43 billion in income or P2 billion higher than the P30.33-billion budget two years ago.

Rodas said the bulk of the 2018 budget will be sourced from the P3.1-billion Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of the province from the national government.

The budget officer said other local revenues amounting to P917 million will also be used to fund the P4.5-billion proposed budget.

These include the income through real property taxes, rental fees from district and provincial hospitals, the Cebu South Bus Terminal and other properties.

Also included is the P300 million from the Mandaue City government who purchased the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) last August.

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III said the Capitol included P35 million for a proposed multilevel parking area within the Capitol Compound to accommodate employees and visitors.