‘Social justice’ in Iloilo’s P23-B proposed 2022 investment plan

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

A “social justice”-themed budget is what Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor is aiming for as he gave a preview of the Annual Investment Plan (AIP) for 2022 on Thursday.

In a press conference Thursday, Defensor confirmed that he did meet with the Provincial Development Council (PDC) last Wednesday where he introduced his proposed AIP for next year.

The governor said that the investment plan was part of his commitment during his inauguration in 2019.

The AIP has five objectives – to increase investment and employment opportunities; food security; to provide accessible health and social services; to protect and sustainably manage natural and human resources of the province; and to provide effective, efficient, and transparent government service.

“It is based on our social justice agenda like what I said in my inaugural speech. In the social justice agenda, we have a vision for a liveable, resilient, progressive, and globally competitive province. Our mission is to have a local government unit which is committed to provide equitable distribution of resources and opportunities through good governance,” the governor said.

The AIP refers to the annual slice of the Local Development Investment Plan (LDIP) which constitutes the total resource requirements for all Programs, Projects or Activities (PPAs), consisting of the annual capital expenditure and regular operating requirements of the local government unit (LGUs).

It includes P11.46 billion for economic services sector, P7.47 billion for social services sector, P2.44 billion for other services, and P1.63 billion for general public services sector.

Defensor did not disclose specific items under the 2022 AIP as this was not final, adding that the provincial government would release a “more official” version.

The future version would include the Provincial Civil Defense Plan (PCDP), which he said will cover disaster, environment, health, and public safety and order.

“We will have a version of this which will include significant portions, for example, we want to put Iloilo as number one in rice production, we will target 4 tonnes per hectare and we will include that. But this will change because of our Provincial Civil Defense Service. We are about to revise the Disaster Plan. We will have a PCDP which will develop in the next few weeks,” he said.

WHAT’S IN THE AIP?

Daily Guardian was able to obtain a copy of the general breakdown of the 2022 AIP from the provincial government which Defensor presented to the PDC.

The economic services sector, which has the biggest share of the 2022 AIP, goes mainly to engineering services (P10.62 billion), followed by other small-scale infrastructure projects (P300 million), agricultural services (P262 million), trade, investment and cooperative services (P125 million), environment and natural services (P85 million), tourism promotion and development services (P34 million), and veterinary services (P27 million).

For the social services sector, the biggest allocation is for the provincial and district hospitals (P2.94 million), which is allocated to 13 hospitals managed and operated by the provincial government:

-Dr. Ricardo S. Provido Sr. Memorial District Hospital, Calinog (P427 million);

-Iloilo Provincial Hospital, Pototan (P345 miliion);

-Ramon Tabiana Memorial District Hospital, Cabatuan (P318 million);

-Dr. Ricardo Y. Ladrido Memorial Hospital, Lambunao (P280 million);

-Aleosan District Hospital, Alimodian (P260 million);

-Federico Roman Tirador Sr. Memorial District Hospital, Janiuay (P221 million);

-Rep. Pedro Trono District Hospital, Guimbal (P188 million);

-Gov. Niel D. Tupas Sr. District Hospital, Barotac Viejo (P173 million);

-Don Valerio Palmares Sr. Memorial District Hospital, Passi City (P172 million);

-Ramon D. Duremdes District Hospital, Dumangas (P166 million);

-Jesus M. Colmenares District Hospital, Balasan (P152 million);

-Sara District Hospital, Sara (P148 million); and

-San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital (P86 million).

Peace and order program was allocated P2.082 billion, which includes the P1.37 billion from the Local Government Support Fund-Support to the Barangay Development (LGSF-SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

The rest of the 2022 social services budget is comprised of health services (P758 million), hospital management and technical support services (P684 million), education and manpower services (P383 million), social welfare and development services (P147 million), rural water supply and sanitation services (P144 million), Iloilo sports management and development service (P107 million), public employment services (P89 million), population management services (P53 million), COVID-19 related expenses (P50 million), road safety program (P16 million), library and archives services (P11 million), gender and development (P2 million), and civil society organization participation in local governance (P1 million).

The third largest portion of the AIP – the other services sector – includes advances to local economic enterprise (P1.3 billion), development of local disaster risk reduction and management programs (P821 million), other personnel benefits (P150 million), provincial agro-met and command center (P69 million), loan amortization (P50 million), terminal leave benefits of provincial government officers (P50 million), support to COMELEC (P5 million), and support to barangays (P1.7 million).

The remaining part of the AIP goes to the general public services sector, which includes offices of the Iloilo Provincial Government:

-Executive services (P735 million);

-General services (P201 million);

-Legislative services for Sangguniang Panlalawigan members (P104 million);

-Legislative services for the vice governor (P77 million);

-Treasury services (P74 million);

-Real property tax assessment services (P66 million);

-Planning and development coordination services (P64 million);

-Human resources development services (P51 million);

-Legislative support services (P43 million);

-Administrative services (P33 million);

-Accounting services (P32.4 million);

-Legal services (P32 million);

-Budgeting services (P28 million);

-Information communication technology services (P23 million);

-Public information and community affairs (P15 million);

-Prosecution services (P13 million);

-Judicial services (P12 million);

-Bids and Awards Committee (P10 million);

-Internal audit services (P7.1 million);

-Auditing services (P2.1 million);

-Land registry services (P1.5 million);

-Parole and probation administration services (P500,000); and

-Interior and local government services (P120,000).