By Gail Momblan/Philippine News Agency
ILOILO CITY — The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) committee on appropriations said the PHP3.712-billion executive budget will be passed after the May 13 elections.
Dorothy Paes, appropriations chair, admitted the budget might not be passed before the election as there had been changes in the proposed budget.
She said that there is no assurance for the budget to be passed within the month of May.
Paes, in an interview Tuesday afternoon, said the appropriations committee edited the province’s proposed budget.
“We considered some of the budgets by other departments but we made revisions for the Capital Outlay of the Office of the Governor, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Public Information and Community Affairs Office (PICAO), and Hospital Management Office (HMO),” she said.
For the Administrative Services under the Office of the Governor, the appropriations committee slashed a total of PHP10.5 million which is composed of proposals for office equipment of PHP1 million; information and communication technology equipment, PHP5 million; communication equipment, PHP500,000; other machinery and equipment, PHP2 million; and furniture and fixtures, PHP2 million, Paes reported during the SP regular session on Tuesday afternoon.
Another PHP1 million was also slashed from Peace and Order under the Office of the Governor.
“We disapproved the proposed amount because they have unutilized fund last year,” she said.
For the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the PHP200,000 budget proposed for office equipment was reduced to PHP150,000; furniture and fixtures, from PHP1.4 million to PHP1 million; and other machinery and equipment from PHP200,000 to PHP150,000 for the same reason.
Meanwhile, two of the three radio block time programs “Balita Halin sa Kapitolyo” “shall be deleted or removed from the budget,” Paes said.
Two of the block time programs aired at radio stations are charged under the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of PICAO. One of the block time programs is being charged under the Office of the Governor but is being managed by PICAO.
“The committee deems it necessary that only one radio program should be funded by the province for the purpose of dissemination of information in relation to the programs, activities, and projects of the Iloilo Provincial Government,” Paes said in her report.
The proposed budget of the PICAO, therefore, was reduced from PHP1,462,000 million to PHP622,000.
The budget proposed by the HMO was also slashed by PHP54 million allocated for drugs and medicines.
Paes said that the office also has remaining fund as “they were allocated PHP50,485,000 in 2018 for drugs and medicines but only PHP31 million was utilized.”
The committee also noted that the 12 district hospitals in the province should be the ones to procure the said medicines since they are in the best position to determine what drugs and medicines they need for their operation.
“The committee suggested that the amount PHP54 million be deleted or removed in the budget of HMO and shall be transferred to the district hospitals,” Paes added.
“If they can submit, we will go through the process of first to third reading. We are now in election season, and we are also uncertain of the board members’ attendance in our sessions,” Paes said.
Iloilo Vice Governor Christine Garin, meanwhile, assured that the departments concerned and are being requested by the appropriations committee for clarification will respond promptly “as they also want to fast-track the passage of the budget.”
She said the regular session of the SP will be held as scheduled despite the election season.
“We hope we can reach a quorum Tuesday next week (May 7) despite that the board members are already busy for elections,” Garin said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
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