THE Iloilo Provincial Government is proposing an annual budget of P3,234,509,176 for 2021 that is anchored on the program "Rehabilitation and Transformation of the Province of Iloilo to Catalyze Recovery (RT-PCR)."
An amount of P2.007 billion or 62.05 percent is allotted for the current operating expenditures (COE), while P1.227 billion or 37.95 percent is for the special purpose lump sum appropriations (SPLSA).
The COE covers the personal services and maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).
The SPLSA covers the 20 percent development fund, five percent provincial disaster risk reduction and management fund, aid to barangays, loan amortization and local economic enterprise advances.
The development fund will be utilized to finance development projects such as road construction, water supply projects, environmental rehabilitation, pre and post-harvest facilities, solid waste management facilities, small irrigation, hospital upgrading, street lightings, day care centers and other related small infrastructure.
Of the P1.151 billion budget for the 11 district hospitals and one provincial hospital, P430.708 million or 37.4 percent shall be provided as subsidy from the general fund.
The 2021 annual budget, which was transmitted to the Provincial Board on October 16, also contains funds for the second tranche of salary standardization.
The budget has three major socio-economic features such as continuous improvement of health care services, improvement of local economy, and care for psychosocial well-being of Ilonggos.
It is broken down into four major sectors such as the economic sector with a share of P499 million (15 percent), social sector with P500 million (16 percent), general public sector with P1 billion (31 percent), and special purpose appropriations with P1.230 billion (38 percent).
Next year's proposed fund is six percent higher than the P3,029,873,051 approved budget in 2020.
Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. assured that there is enough budget for infrastructure projects and healthcare services.
"We have a good amount of budget for infrastructure so we can substantially pave more provincial and barangay roads. And we can push our hospitals so we will have significant improvement on the state of our hospitals in 2020 and 2021," Defensor said. (PR)