All-Time High: Gwen wants P12 B budget in 2020

The Cebu provincial government will operate using a P12 billion budget next year if the Provincial Board approves Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s budget request. | CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia endorsed to the Provincial Board an all-time high budget of P12 billion for 2020.

The amount almost tripled this year’s budget of P4.69 billion.

In her endorsement letter to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) dated October 16, 2019, Garcia said the “historic” budget “reaffirmed the Province of Cebu’s autonomy from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share.”

“The IRA contributed only 32 percent of the required funding sources which is an affirmative mark for the Province in this era of an ever-increasing IRA-dependency on the part of local government units (LGUs),” Garcia said.

Funding sources for the 2020 budget include the province’s IRA share and local income from taxes and other revenue-generating operations.

Read More: Gwen to prioritize infra projects, hospitals upgrade in 2020 budget

Garcia earlier said that improvement of the provincial government’s infrastructure and medical services are among the top priorities of her 2020 budget in line with the national government’s “Build-Build-Build” program and the implementation of the Universal Health Care Law.

Almost half of Garcia’s P12 billion budget will be set aside for development and infrastructure projects.

“In support of the “Build-Build-Build” program of his excellency, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, a substantial amount of Annual Budget 2020 was allocated for Development and Infrastructure Projects which represents 158 percent of the province’s regular IRA share or an amount equivalent to P6,036,100,000,” Garcia said.

This will include the concreting of 250 kilometers of provincial roads, 100 km of barangay roads, installation of level 3 water systems in towns, and the construction of vertical structures for some local government units.

For health services, Garcia earlier announced that the Provincial Health Office (PHO) will work on the upgrade of the four provincial hospitals located in Balamban town and the cities of Carcar, Danao, and Bogo to Level II facilities from its current Level I status.

Based on Department of Health standards, Level 1 facilities do not have Intensive Care Units (ICUs). These cater only to patients that need minimal supervision. Level II hospitals, on the other hand, may be allocated with specialists and equipment needed for critically ill patients.

The Capitol also intends to increase the bed capacity of the district hospitals that are located in the islands of Camotes and Bantayan from only 25 beds to 100 beds each.

Since September, the Capitol held at least three budget calls for the planning and revision of the proposed budget of the different offices.

Garcia said that the 2020 budget for their operations is anchored on their 2018 expenditures and not in the current year, 2019, “because 2019 was an election year where priorities were different.”

“The Annual Budget is an example of a judicious allocation of resources, espousing my policies for good governance where a budget must be, beyond theoretical presentations, an approximation of the people’s hope and aspirations,” said Garcia. / dcb