Gov’s office get biggest share in provincial budget

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III will have more than half a billion pesos at his disposal as part of the P3 billion budget he submitted for review and approval to the Provincial Board (PB) yesterday.

About P587 million, the biggest allocation in the province’s 2015 budget, will be under the governor’s office, It is P147 million more than this year’s P440 million.

“A lot of people come to us for financial assistance. That cannot be avoided so hopefully the PB approves that,” he told reporters.

The amount will be used to subsidize the projects of local government units (LGUs).

The P3 billion budget for next year is P404 million more or 15 percent higher than this year’s P2.59 billion budget.

Equipment

The governor continued to prioritize health services and assistance to small-scale farmers in the province.
The Provincial Health Office proposed a P409 million budget for next year, up from P379 million this year.

Almost three-fourths of it or P279 million will be spent to support provincial and district hospitals in the province.

The rest will be used to upgrade hospital services including major surgical procedures.

Davide said they plan to acquire more medical equipment such as dialysis machines and X-ray machines as well as hire additional doctors and surgeons as consultants.

Bigger share

“We have been consistent with our priorities. It’s still health, food security and infrastructure to improve our provincial and barangay roads,” he told reporters yesterday.

Davide was supposed to attend the launch of the newly-upgraded operating room at Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital in Bogo City yesterday.

But he had to stay in Cebu City to accommodate Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas and and Budget Sec. Florencio Abad at the Capitol.

Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas said the annual budget increased due to the expected bigger share of the province’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from the national government.

He said the amount was based on the province’s available funds in its coffers.

Development fund

The complete copy of the budget proposal was not immediately available yesterday but Cebu Daily News received a copy of the summary of the appropriations.

It will be referred to the committee on budget and appropriations headed by PB Member Grecilda “Gigi” Sanchez.

The budget for the Capitol’s agriculture office was raised from P43 million to P64 million or 50 percent.

Provincial Agriculturist Roldan Saragena said the bulk of the funds for agriculture was placed in the development fund for projects under the 2015 Annual Investment Plan (AIP).

He said it will fund construction of farm-to-market roads, cover insurance of small-scale farmers, entrepreneurship programs and maintenance of poultry and livestock farms.

Hearings

Approximately P462 million was proposed by the province for its development projects while another P121.4 million will be set aside for its calamity fund.

The PB’s budget was set at P146 million. The office of Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale will receive P56 million and the Provincial Administrator’s Office will get P135 million.

About P125 million was set aside for the new Provincial Information and Communication Technology Office while P62 million is set aside to fund operations at the Cebu South Bus Terminal.

The PB is expected to take up the budget proposal in a series of budget hearings within the month.

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