EXECUTIVE BUDGET. Mayor John Dalipe (seated) signs into law the Fiscal Year 2023 Executive Budget amounting to PHP4.9 billion Monday afternoon (Nov. 14, 2022), with Vice Mayor Josephine Pareja (left of Dalipe, standing) and members of the City Council and Finance Committee as witnesses. Social Services got the largest share of the budget with 47 percent or PHP2.3 billion. (Photo courtesy of City Hall PIO)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – Social services sector remains the largest beneficiary of the Fiscal Year 2023 Executive Budget of the city government.
City Budget Officer Geraldine Dela Paz said Tuesday the social services sector—covering security, health and education—obtained a share of 47at PHP2.35 billion of the PHP4.9 billion for next year.
General services, meanwhile, got a share of 36 percent at PHP1.74 billion, while economic services received a share of 17 percent or PHP838.46 million.
Dela Paz said the 2023 budget is 12.51 percent lower than last year’s budget, in view of the significant drop in this city’s National Tax Allocation (NTA), formerly known as the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).
“Nevertheless we were able to incorporate (in the budget) all the priorities and programs of the city government,” she said.
Mayor John Dalipe, who signed the budget Monday afternoon, said the 2023 Executive Budget embodies the thrusts and programs of his administration through the joint efforts of stakeholders and the different civil society organizations.
The budget's sources are derived from Estimated Local Revenues and Other Funding Shares from the National Government – local taxes (PHP807,585,000); NTA (PHP4,090,702,230); Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PHP,600,000) and economic zone (PHP2,000,000).
Also signed into law by Dalipe on the same day is Ordinance 752 or the Plantilla ordinance, which identifies or creates the different plantilla positions for next year's fiscal year. (PNA)
