Cebu province earns P1.1 billion by midyear

The Cebu provincial government registered an increase in revenues from January to May this year, a report released ahead of  Gov. Hilario Davide III’s first State of the Province Address on July 7 said.

Acting Provincial Treasurer Emmanuel Guial said the provincial government recorded an P89-million increase in total revenue from the months of January to May this year.

He said the provincial government earned P1.012 billion, slightly higher than last year’s P923 million recorded during the same period last year
He said the revenue increase is due to the increase in the shares of Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) and stepped-up efforts to collect local taxes.

“In all aspects, including real property tax, provincial [tax] imposition and all collectibles, there has been an increase,” Guial said.
Based on the Office of the Provincial Treasurer’s statement of revenue for 2014, earnings from real property taxes and IRA registered the highest gains. The provincial government earned P2.2 billion last year.

Expanded services

Guial said his office aims to  collect P2.3 billion by the end of the year. Davide said the increase in  revenues can help expand services to Cebu’s residents.

In preparation for his first SOPA, Davide held  a meeting with Capitol  department heads and the heads of committees and task forces.

“I want to find out what we’ve done so far in our service to the province of Cebu,” he said.

Davide said he wanted to make sure that the departments are working on his administration’s five-point agenda.

The SOPA will be held during the Provincial Board’s second regular session on July 7.