ILOILO – Barangay captains of the municipality of Santa Barbara are getting restive. They want the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) to stop delaying the approval of the provincial government’s P3.7-billion budget for 2019.
Proposed barangay projects such as water systems and farm-to-market roads could not take off, according to the Liga ng mga Barangay municipal federation of Santa Barbara in a resolution approved on Feb. 12.
“Villagers are already asking us barangay captains about the projects we promised them,” said Liga municipal federation president Larry Deatras who is the barangay captain of Bolong Oeste.
He added: “We appeal sa wisdom kung may diyan pa man ang mga Provincial Board members.”
Ironically, the chairperson of the SP appropriations committee that is conducting slow budget hearings since November last year is the president of the provincial federation of the Liga ng mga Barangay, Dorothy Paes.
The budget hearings may reach March 1 yet, according to Paes in January.
Deatras said Liga ng mga Barangay of other municipalities should also press for the speedy approval of the province’s 2019 bugdet.
Early this month, the Liga ng mga Barangay municipal federation of Cabatuan town called on the SP to hasten the budget approval.
The delay “greatly affects the provincial government and hampers the growth and development of the barangays in particular and the entire province in general”, read part of its Resolution No. 2019-02.
According to Cabatuan Liga federation president Rafaela Jiloca of Barangay Talanghuan, the “annual budget is badly needed by the entire province, especially of the constituent barangays that are dependent on the assistance from the provincial government for their development projects.”
Due to the slow action of the SP appropriations committee, the provincial government is currently operating on a reenacted 2018 budget.
It was on Oct. 12, 2018 yet when Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. submitted to the SP the proposed budget.
In a timeline she bared last month, Paes set the following dates for the budget hearings:
* Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 – Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Public Employment and Services Office, Provincial Veterinary Office, Iloilo Sports Development and Management Office, Provincial Governor’s Office (Administrative Services), Governors-Administrative Supports Service (Parks and Grounds), and Internal Audit Service
* Feb. 6, 7, and 8 – Provincial Culture, Arts, History and Tourism Office, Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, Human Resource Management and Development Office, Public Attorney’s Office, Municipal Circuit Trial Court, and Provincial Engineer’s Office
* Feb. 13, 14 and 15 – Provincial Accountant’s Office, Provincial Treasurer’s Office, Provincial Budget Office, Department of Interior and Local Government-Iloilo, Provincial Health Office, and Hospital Management Office
* Feb. 20, 21 and 22 – Provincial Auditor’s Office, Provincial Assessor’s Office, Information and Communication Technology Office, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office, Provincial Legal Office, and Bids and Awards Committee
* Feb. 27 to March 1 – Provincial Administrator’s Office, Provincial Task Force on Road Safety and Task Force on Overloading, San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, Provincial Planning and Development Office, Provincial Agriculture’s Office, Provincial Population Office, and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office
After these budget hearings, Paes would be making a committee report to be submitted to the SP plenary for the first, second and third readings./PN
