THE Mandaue City Council approved during a session on Monday, Dec. 17, the P2.4 billion budget intended for the increase of financial aid to senior citizens.
The annual allowance for senior citizens will increase to 8,000 from P6,000 starting next year.
Mandaue City has 17,201 registered senior citizens in 27 barangays.
“There was an ordinance approving the increase of the financial assistance for the seniors because we know that their needs and their expenses especially for their medicines grow every year,” Vice Mayor Carlo Fortuna told Superbalita Cebu.
On the same day, 3,166 persons with disabilities (PWDs) started receiving their P3,000 assistance from the City Government.
The aid went up to P3,000 from P2,000 after a resolution for an increase was approved by the City Council last June 19.
Joshua Caniocao, 24, said he is happy that he has been a recipient of the City Government’s program for PWDs in the past nine years.
The Cebu Provincial Board also approved in its third and final reading the Province’s annual budget of P4.69 billion.
The P4.69-billion approved budget is higher by 4.23 percent compared to this year’s annual budget of P4.5 billion.
The Province’s annual budget was approved in mass motion during its regular session on Monday, Dec. 17.
The approval of the annual budget was on time especially that it was the PB’s last session this year.
The lion’s share of the approved budget or around P1.48 billion will be allocated to health programs, including a P1.2-billion allocation for additional improvements of the Province’s 16 district and provincial hospitals.
The remaining P254 million will be appropriated for the Capitol’s public health programs.
The second department with the highest allocation is the Governor’s Office with an approved budget of P807 million, higher than this year’s P735 million.
The expenditures for the Governor’s Office include increases in personnel salaries, special projects and its regular P10-million yearly augmentation for the Paglaum Scholarship program. (from Kiziah Marie T. Suello, USJ-R intern/KAL/JKV)