THE Provincial Board (PB) of Negros Occidental, during its regular session Wednesday, March 6, approved the proposed 2019 General Fund Supplemental Budget amounting to about P226 million.
Second District Board Member Salvador Escalante Jr., chairman of the (PB) committee on appropriations, budget and finance, said the budget will fund 49 items mostly needed for Capitol operations.
Escalante said not all budgetary requirements were included during the approval of the 2019 Annual Budget of the province thus, these are being earmarked through supplemental budget.
“We will be sourcing out the fund from the savings on our government equity as of December 31 last year,” he added.
Based on the supplemental budget request, bulk of the allocation goes to Hospital Operations Division, particularly for hospital information system, worth P32 million.
Escalante said the hospital information system will connect various departments of four district hospitals in cities of Escalante, La Carlota and Himamaylan, and Valladolid town.
“There are seven Capitol-run hospitals that will have information system, which is part of the requirements of the Department of Health,” he said, adding that those for three other hospitals already have allocations.
The provincial government also allocated P30 million each for subsidy to local government units and donations.
Other items include allocations for Governor’s Office, Negros Occidental Scholarship Program, Internal Audit Division, tourism, sports program, Panaad Park and Stadium, Provincial Treasurer’s Office, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, Provincial Veterinary Office, General Services Office, Negros First Blood Center, Provincial Health Office, and special appropriations, among others. (EPN)