“BECAUSE the budget is an economic indicator, it shows we are catching up.”
This was stressed by Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia on Tuesday, December 4, after the City Council approved the P2.52 billion annual budget for 2019 during the regular session on Monday.
Leonardia said he is thankful to Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and the members of the City Council for the approval of the 2019 budget.
The 50 percent of the budget will come from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) amounting to P1.26 billion and the local sources at P 1.258 billion.
“It’s the first that we have 50-50 in terms of the composition of the IRA and the local income. If you go back 20 years ago or so, we are very dependent on IRA,” Leonardia said.
He said it only shows that Bacolod by itself already improved so much in terms of revenue generation where it reached the level of IRA.
“Because budget is an economic indicator, it shows that Bacolod is growing, it’s not just growing, but its growing rapidly as we had envisioned even when we were campaigning three years ago to create a business environment that will not just make business grow but to make business grow rapidly,” he added.
The mayor pointed out there’s an increase in the city’s business registration, from 18,000 in the previous administration to 23,000.
“That is an indisputable indicator that business in Bacolod has grown,” he said.