OVER P241 million was released from the Capitol’s development fund to local government units in the province of Cebu from last year to March this year.
Provincial Information Officer Ethel Natera said early this week that the funds were used to finance the priority development projects and programs specified in the local development plan.
She said this plan directly supports the Philippine Development Plan and the Medium-Term Public Investment Program.
Infrastructure and development got the biggest share of the funds at P171.268 million followed by environmental protection and risk reduction at P36.679 million.
Health and social services were third at P22.671 million followed by countryside development at P8.05 million and educational and vocational training at P2.878 million.
“All the funded projects aim to contribute to attaining the Davide administration’s Six Key Development Agenda,” Natera said.
The Key Development Agenda covers health and social services, education and technical vocation training, environmental protection, climate change and disaster risk management, infrastructure development, tourism and investment promotion, and law and order.
Component cities
Nearly all allocations were downloaded to or spent for projects in the LGU level.
A small portion of the funds was used to purchase vehicles such as multi-cabs and emergency cars for the component cities and towns, as well as the barangays.
Natera said the bulk of the funds came from the governor’s office worth P182.06 million.
The vice governor’s office spent P12.58 million while the Provincial Board (PB) spent P46.91 million.
Natera said the 20 percent development fund was distributed among LGUs that made requests to the provincial government with supporting barangay or municipal resolutions.
“It would be safe to say that all LGUs received part of the funding,” she told Cebu Daily News in a text message. The 20 percent development fund is taken from the province’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
Last year’s IRA amounted to P2.3 billion while it was only P2.033 billion in 2013.