COVID-19 gets big chunk off gov’t income, too

Revenues from the Cebu South Bus Terminal are expected to be cut by more than half this year due to the impact of the measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines —Even the government’s finances cannot be spared from the economic burden brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Cebu provincial government, for instance,  may need to “adjust their budget” accordingly as the provincial treasurer sees lower revenue collection this year due to the effects of COVID-19.

Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre said he was expecting the revenues coming from sand and gravel extraction, real property and operations of the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) to significantly decrease this year.

Read more: Cebu to ban entry of passengers from outside province

In CSBT, for instance, Salubre said he was expecting their revenue collection to drop by over 60 percent for the month of March due to the fewer passengers and trips.

“Minus gyud. Kuhaan man nila og mga sakyanan kay minus ra man ang mga pasahero. We [used to collect] P6 million to P7 million a month [from CSBT revenues]. Karon, maayo na lang og naa tay P2 [million],” Salubre said.

(It is lower because they will reduce the number of vehicles in the terminal because of fewer passengers. We [used to collect] P6 million to P7 million a month [from CSBT revenues]. Now, it would be okay if we can collect P2 [million].)

The income from CSBT comes from the parking fee of the buses and the rent of the stalls in the terminal.

With fewer travelers due to the threat of COVID-19 and the social distancing restrictions, Salubre said the bus lines pulled out some units while some of the stores also closed.

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“We will adjust accordingly kay (because) this is an intervening factor,” Salubre said.

Before COVID-19 hit, the Cebu provincial government projected a revenue collection of P12 billion for 2020 in order to cover the projects and program budget for 2020 that were also pegged to P12 billion.

Read more: Capitol eyes P12 billion income for 2020

Salubre said this would prove that the economic effects brought by the COVID-19 threat had not been limited to the private sector but also the government.

With the available resources, Salubre said: “we have to take care first on health, survival sa mga tawo (of the people).”

Aside from the local internal revenue sources, the province also sources its budget from its shares in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) such as the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), capital investments, and grants and donations among others./dbs