The Cebu Provincial Board will tackle the P4.6 billion proposed budget today, the last session for the year.
The budget ordinance, authored by Budget and Appropriations Committee head, Celestino Martinez III, was passed on second reading without question during last week’s session.
The ordinance was supposed to be passed on third hearing during the same session but third district Board Member Alex Binghay requested the body to postpone the third reading, saying he has yet to read the ordinance.
Under the rules of parliamentary procedure, however, discussions on a proposed ordinance will no longer be allowed in its third reading.
Binghay’s motion drew a short discussion in the PB as fifth district Board Member Jude Thaddeus Durano-Sybico, the majority floor leader, explained that deferring the passage of the budget would be moot since questions about it would no longer be entertained.
The P4.6 billion proposed budget contains the proposed budgets presented by the different Capitol departments during their scheduled budget hearing last month.
The biggest chunk of the 2019 budget, or P1.4 billion, will go to the Provincial Health Office (PHO) which is operating four provincial hospitals and 12 district hospitals across the province.
The smallest budget, P9.1 million, is allocated for the operating expenses of the offices of each of the Provincial Board members, including the ex-officio members. Last week, the PB has also passed the province’s fourth supplemental budget amounting to P104 million.
Of the amount, P43 million was allocated for the P25,000 Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) incentive of each of the regular and casual employees of the Capitol.
Capitol Job Order (JO) employees, although not eligible for the cash incentive, will be receiving one 50-kilogram bag of premium rice for Christmas.
The PB is also expected to pass the resolution giving authority to Gov. Hilario Davide III to sign the P7 million contract price for the supply and delivery of the premium rice intended for the over 2,000 JOs at the Capitol.