ILOILO – The provincial government is proposing a P4.3-billion budget for 2022, up by more than P1 billion from its 2021 budget of P3,234,509,176.
On Oct. 14, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan the 2022 executive budget for approval, broken down as follows:
* General fund – P979,334,480
* Maintenance and other operating expenses – P1,448,316,569
* Capital Outlay – P13,700,000
* Special Purpose Lump Sum Appropriations – P1,918,102,022
Defensor said the proposed budget is bigger due to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Mandanas-Garcia case, in which local government units (LGUs) will now have a share in the tariff collected by the Bureau of Customs.
“The policy is we will increase your allotment but we will also increase the responsibilities…but waay man sang bag-o gid sila nga ginbutang sa menu nga wala naton gina-obra,” said Defensor.
Defensor said the proposed 2022 budget will focus on the five objectives of his newly-launched Movement for Resurgent, Progressive, Globally Competitive and Resilient Iloilo:
* increase investment and employment opportunities
* attain food security
* provide accessible health and social services
* protect and sustainable manage the resources and asset of the province
* provide effective, efficient an transparent administrative service
The provincial government eyes to set aside P38,950,000 in agricultural services for 2022 to fund communal irrigation, small water impounding and pump irrigation projects.
Defensor believes allocating budget for small irrigations will help increase rice production.
“Gusto naton concretely maka-contribute sa production because we want to be the No. 1 rice producing province,” said Defensor.
Last year, the P3.02-billion budget of the provincial government was 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).
On the other hand, in addition to the P4.3-billion, Defensor also proposed P1,305,000,841.00 for the Local Economic Enterprise (LEE) which will fund the 12 district hospitals and the Iloilo Provincial Hospital.
Last year, the proposed budget for 12 district hospitals and provincial hospitals was P1.151-billion./PN
