Aklan to gain much with 2006 Budget approval - Cong. Miraflores
Kalibo, Aklan -- Aklan stands to gain much upon the approval of the 2006 budget by the Senate, said Congressman Florencio T. Miraflores, representative of the lone district of Aklan who is also a member of the Committee on Appropriations which scrutinized the annual Appropriations Bill.
Miraflores said the P1.053 trillion proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2005 concretizes the government's 10-Point Agenda popularly termed "BEAT THE ODDS" - Balanced Budget, Education for All, Electricity and water supply to towns and barangays, transport and digital networks, decongestion of Metro Manila, development of service and logistics centers in Clark and Subic, automation of electoral process and successful conclusion of peace process.
"A scrutiny of the budgets of the various departments showed me that we in the Province of Aklan stand to gain significantly from its approval. Big ticket infrastructure items are contained therein - development funds for the improvement of the Kalibo and Caticlan Airports, rehabilitation/repair and improvement of the Kalibo-Caticlan National Highway, construction of additional classrooms and school buildings, and continuing support to the budgetary needs of our elementary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions," Cong. Miraflores explained.
Queried by PIA-Aklan as to the veracity of some news reports that congressmen will get P70 million Priority Development Allocation Fund (PDAF) each under the 2006 Budget and what developmental project in Aklan he would give utmost importance this year, Cong. Miraflores said that on a comparative basis, Aklan obtained more budget allocations than the other provinces and/or congressional districts. "Whatever level of PDAF the final version be - P40M or P70M, it is a win-win situation for us," he said.
Cong. Miraflores stressed however that if the final budget version would restore their PDAF to P70 million, the entire amount would go to the same project and program menu that he outlined at the start of his term - health and hospitalization, assistance to indigent patients of the province, development/improvement of farm-to-market roads, assistance to farmers and farmers' groups in boosting their agricultural productivity and putting in place the necessary support infrastructures like roads and bridges, and irrigation systems. "And because farmers and fishermen, entrepreneurs and their cooperatives and associations need institutional development support, allocations shall likewise be made for these," he concluded.
The House of Representatives already sent the proposed 2006 budget to the Senate. According to House Speaker Jose De Venecia, they expect that this new budget, when ultimately signed into law by the President, will pump prime the economy and help defeat poverty in the country, create millions of new jobs, build more classrooms and schoolbuildings, and increase social services for the people.
(PIA/vgvillanueva)