Capitol hikes budget to P3B

The Cebu Provincial Board (PB) yesterday approved a P3 billion budget for the province next year.

The amount is 15 percent higher than this year’s P2.59 billion.

Of that amount, P588 million is allocated to the governor’s office, of which P122 million will go to the disaster risk reduction and management fund.

The governor’s peace and order program will get P34.7 million and a separate intelligence fund will get P10 million. The scholarship program will get P28.1 million.

Next year´s budget for the governor’s office is P147 million more than this year’s P440 million.

Expenditures

Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III earlier said the increase will go to the subsidy to local government units (LGUs) on capital expenditure projects.

After the governor’s office, the Provincial Health Office will get the second biggest chunk with P409.3 million; followed by the PB, with P146.7 million; the General Services Office, with P138.96 million; and the provincial administrator’s office, with P135.1 million.

The budget for each of these offices went up by P29.6 million, P5.9 million, P27.4 million, and P83 million, respectively.

Almost three-fourths of the provincial health office´s budget 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.

No objection

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.

Without any objection from the board members present, the budget was approved on second and third reading in yesterday’s last regular session for 2014.

PB Member Grecilda Sanchez-Zaballero, who chairs the budget committee, said they didn’t rush approval of the budget because yesterday’s session was their last for this year.

“There’s no point in dillydallying. Everything has been clarified,” she said.