PB budget committee endorses P12-billion budget ‘as is’

The Committee on Budget and Appropriation held a budget deliberation today, November 5, for the proposed P12-billion Executive budget of the Capitol for 2020. | CDNDigital file photo — Rosalie Abatayo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Provincial Board’s Committee on Budget and Appropriations has endorsed Capitol’s  P12 billion budget for 2020 “as is.”

On Monday, November 18, the PB passed in mass motion the Committee Report of Board Member Glenn Anthony Soco that endorsed the approval of the P12,000,028,000 executive budget of the provincial government.

“All the questions have been answered by the local finance committee. Moving forward, it is now imperative for us to submit it for the second reading,” Soco told CDN Digital.

The PB will proceed with the second reading of the budget ordinance authored by Soco, who sits as the chairman of the Committee, during their out-of-town session in San Francisco, Camotes on November 25.

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

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During the budget deliberation last November 5, the Committee earlier questioned the funding source of the P12 billion budget because of some items that were included as part of the funding source.

Among those that were in question were the income from the Capitol-run hospitals and the expected funds from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth).

Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre projected an income of P183 million from medical, dental and laboratory fees and P185 million from the patients confined in the 4 provincial and 12 district hospitals.

Cebu fifth district Board Member Andrei Duterte, then, questioned this since the Universal Health Care Law, which provides for free medical services, would already be implemented in 2020.

Salubre heeded to Duterte’s question and said he would omit the item.

But Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, on November 6, clarified that hospitals would still earn despite the UHC implementation.

She explained that Philhealth would be reimbursing the hospitals for the services availed by the paying and non-paying members of the government insurance.

“[The hospital income item is] retained because it was answered by the governor that the hospitals really earn income from its operations. The fund source was completely justified. There are really indeed sources,” Soco said.

Soco also defended the all-time high annual budget saying that “the bigger the amount of the budget is, the better the services that we will be able to provide to our constituents.”/dbs