Screenshot of the FB Live of the budget hearing on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.| Via Sangguniang Panlungsod-Cebu City FB Page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Council Minority Floor Leader Nestor Archival Sr. has questioned the proposed P1.7 million budget of the Cebu City Health Department (CHD) for its office supplies and materials, as part of its requested budget for 2023.
Cebu CHD head Dr. Daisy Villa, with other representatives from the department, defended their proposed budget of P1,086,564,626 for 2023 during a budget hearing on Tuesday, December 13, 2022.
This is still part of the ongoing series of marathon hearings at the legislative department for the approval of the P50 billion budget requested by Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama for next year.
The budget hearing was streamed live at the official Facebook page of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Cebu City.
After tackling the CHD’s proposed P30 million budget for personal services, which covers personnel salary, Archival asked Villa for the breakdown of its proposed P1.7 million budget for office supplies alone.
“Kani man gud, nag-too mo nga makakuha tag P50 billion but timan-i baya nga naay possibility nga dili na mao. So, what we are trying to do is atong gitan-aw kung unsay sakto nga gamiton mao ray atong ibutang kay kaning P1.7 doc mura na nig, perte na g’yod daghana ani,” the councilor said.
Villa, for her part, said the amount will be used to purchase essential office supplies, such as bond papers (A4), envelopes, extension cords, ink, photocopier, and toner, among others.
“Actually, we really need that kons, especially sa atong mga health centers no…Sa atong one patient per package, makakuha ta og 18 pages per patient sa usa lang ka pasyente na siya,” she said.
“Dako kaayo tag need especially sa bondpapers…Gitan-aw jud nato kung pila atong patients especially sa katong PhilHealth,” she added.
Archival then asked the CHD to qualify the items under the said budget.
The CHD’s proposed 2023 budget is about 47 percent higher compared to its appropriations in 2022 at P740,873,017.24.
Villa said this is because of the increase or standardization of the salary of personnel and their plan to fill up vacant regular positions at CHD, including 12 doctors and five nurses, among others.
CHD currently has a total of 173 permanent and 220 casual employees.
/bmjo
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