BY FAITH AUXILIUM P. SEGOVIA
KALIBO, Aklan – Second District congressman Teodorico Haresco Jr. denied speculations that the province has not been allocated a budget by the national government.
According to Haresco, the province’s 2nd Congressional District Office was allotted a fund from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for road construction and rehabilitation.
Among these are the P81.3 million for the Aklan West Road and P120 million for the Kalibo-Makato Circumferential Road.
He also confirmed that all 314 congressional districts in the country were allotted budgets from the national government for medical assistance, assistance to indigent families in crisis situation, government internship program, and for scholarship programs of congressional district offices.
On the other hand, Haresco, House Committee on Appropriations vice chairperson, sponsored and successfully defended on Friday, Sept. 23, the proposed 2023 budget of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) worth P15.85 billion during the period of debates in the plenary.
DAR’s proposed budget is lower than the P26.47 billion original proposal it submitted to the Department of Budget and Management but higher than its current budget of P12.62 billion.
Compared to other national government agencies, DAR’s proposed budget constitutes 0.51 percent of the 2023 National Expenditure Program.
Haresco revealed there remains a need to increase the budget of DAR’s support services to farmers, which include loan financing, medical and educational assistance, capacity development and providing modern farm equipment, fertilizers and other farm implements and inputs. (With a report from PNA)/PN
