BUDGET CALL. Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. reiterates the need for the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to pass the PHP3.7-billion executive budget for this year on Monday, March 4, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Iloilo Provincial Capitol Public Information Office)
ILOILO CITY – Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. is urging the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) to set aside politics and prioritize the welfare of Ilonggos by passing the 2019 PHP3.7-billion executive budget.
This, after the SP committee on appropriations, headed by Liga ng mga Barangay president Dorothy Paes, failed to follow its proposed budget hearing timeline.
“The SP, with their own political agenda, stops the approval of the budget and affects many programs and projects because they think that I will use the budget for election campaign,” the governor said after the flag ceremony on Monday.
He said that the Iloilo provincial government cannot grant the Ilonggos their needs on road concreting, water system, among others, because of the non-approval of the budget.
Paes on Thursday (Feb. 28) said that they were not able to follow the proposed timeline because there were numerous clarifications on the budget presented by the offices.
Based on the timeline, the budget was supposed to be passed by the SP on March 1.
Paes said that almost 20 Iloilo provincial government offices were not yet summoned to the budget hearing. They had not yet tackled the budgets of the Provincial Administrator’s Office, Provincial Task Force on Road Safety and Task Force on Overloading, San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, among others.
“We have no choice but to move the schedule. Now, we are trying to double our efforts to pass the budget,” she said.
Paes admitted that the appropriations committee had already received resolutions from the League of Municipalities of the Philippines in Iloilo, Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) of Santa Barbara, and the Association of Iloilo Provincial Government Employees (AIPGE), all requesting to fast track the budget deliberations.
“We assure those who submitted the resolutions that the committee on appropriations is thinking of ways to address your concerns,” she said. (PNA)
