By Joseph B.A. Marzan and Dolly Yasa
The Iloilo Provincial Government unveiled its 2021 budget on Monday, totaling an amount of P3.23 billion, and is aimed at providing relief after the negative economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Next year’s budget is about 6 percent higher than the P3.02-billion budget this year.
The provincial government said in a press release that the budget was anchored on the governor’s Plan for Rehabilitation and Transformation of the Province of Iloilo to Catalyze Recovery (Plan RT-PCR).
The three main socio-economic features of the province’s 2021 budget are focused continuous improvement of health care services; improvement of local economy; and care for psychosocial well-being of Ilonggos
The Provincial Budget Office breaks it down into P951 million for personnel services (PS), P1.055 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), and P1.227 billion for the Special Purpose Lumps Sum Appropriations (SLPSA).
The SLPSA include the local development fund, disaster risk reduction and management fund (DRRMF), aid to barangays, loan amortization, and local economic enterprise advances.
The province’s 20-percent development fund, mandated by Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 s.2017 by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), is at P611 million.
The P161-million DRRMF is mandated by Republic Act No. 10121 (Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010), which provides that the local government unit (LGU) should allocate at least five percent of the annual budget to DRRM.
Aid to barangays, which amounts to P1.721 million, is provided for in RA No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991), which state that the province should provide aid not less than P1,000.
The rest of the SLPSA comprises P22 million for loan amortization, and P430 million for local economic enterprise advances.
The local economic enterprise advances also subsidize the MOOE of the province’s 11 district hospitals and the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town.
The Gender and Development (GAD) component of the budget, which is also five percent of the budget, is attributed to parts of the budget of the offices based on Rep. Act 9710 (Magna Carta of Women).
As to the budget’s breakdown according to sectors, it is as follows: P499 million for the economic sector, P500 million for the social sector, and P1 billion is general public sector.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. told Daily Guardian that the budget’s general focus is on infrastructure, mainly for roads, hospitals and rural development.
Hospital infrastructure is also included in the supplemental budget for 2020, which is currently being deliberated upon in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
“We will provide good amounts for the paving of our roads and additional infrastructure for our hospitals, which will also be accomplished if we attain a surplus and a supplemental budget for 2020,” the governor said.
He added that other big-ticket projects of the province will be covered by the 2021 General Appropriations Bill by the Congress.
The press release states that the budget had already been transmitted to the Sanggunian on Friday.
But Board Member Domingo Oso Jr. (4th district), Chairperson of the Sanggunian’s Committee on Appropriations, said that they have not received the proposed budget yet.
He added that they are still tackling the supplemental budget, and that may start discussions on next year’s budget by next week.
NEGROS OCCIDENTAL
In Negros Occidental province, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan will start tackling today, Oct 20, 2020, the proposed P4.4-billion 2021 budget.
Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer said the budget deliberations will start after passing it on first and second reading then and it to the Committee on Finance for the hearings.
In parliamentary parlance, the first reading refers to the introduction of a measure to the legislative body while the second reading is the referral of the measure to the appropriate committee that will tackle it.
SP secretary and lawyer Maki Ascalon confirmed to Daily Guardian Monday that Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson submitted last week the proposed P4.4-billion provincial budget.
Ferrer assured that they will be able pass the budget next month.
The P4,471,695,065 budget allocates P1,641,424,244 for personal services (salaries and other benefits of capitol workers); P1,374,658,871 for the maintenance and other operating expenses; P12,000,000 for the capital outlay (acquisition of equipment and furniture; P1,443,611,950 for the special purpose appropriations.
The P4.4-billion budget will come from projected tax revenues totaling P98,000,000; non-tax revenues – P380,357,719; and Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) – P3,993,337,346.
The IRA is a local government unit’s (LGU) share of revenues from the Philippine national government. Provinces, independent cities, component cities, municipalities, and barangays each get a separate allotment.
Ferrer said he sees no hitches in the passage of the 2021 budget.
