ILOILO – The provincial government is proposing a budget of P3,234,509,176 for 2021. The budget package was transmitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Friday last week.
It is six percent higher than this year’s approved budget of P3.02 billion and anchored on the program of the current administration dubbed as “Rehabilitation and Transformation of the Province of Iloilo to Catalyze Recovery (RT-PCR).”
The big chunk of the 2021 budget is allotted for current operating expenditures (COE) at 62.05 percent (P2.007) billion while 37.95 percent (P1.227 billion) is intended for the special purpose lump sum appropriations (SPLSA).
The COE budget covers personal services and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) of the provincial government.
The SPLSA, on the other hand, covers the 20 percent development fund; five percent provincial disaster risk reduction and management fund; aid to barangays; loan amortization; and local economic enterprise advances.
The development fund is being utilized to finance development projects such as road construction, water supply projects, environmental rehabilitation, pre- and post-harvest facilities, solid waste management facilities, small irrigation, hospital upgrading, street lightings, day care centers and other related small infrastructure.
The 11 district hospitals and one provincial hospital has been allotted a P1.151-billion budget; P430.708 million (37.4 percent) will be subsidized from the general fund.
The annual appropriations have three major socio-economic features: continuous improvement of healthcare services; improvement of the local economy; and care for the psychosocial well-being of Ilonggos.
The budget pie is sliced into four major sectors: the economic sector has P499 million (15 percent); social sector, P500 million (16 percent); general public sector, P1 billion (31 percent); and special purpose appropriations, P1.230 billion (38 percent).
The proposed annual budget also contained the second tranche of salary standardization.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. assured the Ilonggos there is enough budget for infrastructure projects and healthcare services.
“We have a good amount of budget for infrastructure so we can substantially pave more provincial and barangay roads. And we will have significant improvement on the state of our hospitals,” Defensor said./PN
