GOV. HILARIO DAVIDE III submitted his proposed P4.7-billion annual budget for next year before the Provincial Board (PB).
The budget is P200 million more compared to this year’s annual budget of P4.5 billion, said Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas.
A large bulk of the budget is dedicated to the improvement of health services, particularly in the operation of provincial and district hospitals.
Rodas denied that the increase is due to the incoming midterm elections.
“Actually, the issue usually comes up during election time. When you think about it, though, next year’s budget is basically the same as this year’s,” he said.
Around P1.48 billion is allocated to health services, with P1.2 billion going to the operations of the 16 provincial and district hospitals, while P254 million is allocated to public health services.
The Provincial Engineering Office is seeking an allocation of P400 million for road network projects.
The governor’s office’s is seeking an P800-million budget for next year. Most of it will be used for personnel services and funding for special projects, such as the Paglaum Scholarship program, among others.
The governor’s budget this year is P735 million.
The increase is attributed to the salary increase of employees in departments under the executive branch amounting to around P136 million.
The salary increase will also cover newly created positions under the Provincial Tourism Office and the Cebu Provincial Investment and Promotions Office, Rodas said.
Next year’s proposed budget will undergo deliberation before the PB committee on budget and appropriation. (JKV)