Over P1B Capitol budget highlights today's special session
Members of the 9th Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan (SP) convene today for a special session with the yet to be 'deciphered' 2009 Executive Budget at the center of deliberations.
Particular attention is expected to be on the failure of Capitol department heads and hospital chiefs to attend budget deliberations and defend respective multi-million appropriations here. With the executive budget submitted for legislative nod by Governor Niel Tupas Sr., corresponding evaluation and deliberation was conducted by the Committee on Appropriations. Chair of said committee is the governor's nephew, Vice Governor Rolex Suplico. The duo has since been at odds though with their politics and governance at the Capitol.
To note, the governor has since barred top capitol officials from attending the committee hearings citing bad experiences in the past. The hearings, Tupas told Suplico, merely served as venue for harassments of the Capitol chiefs.
As such, Governor Tupas Sr. sent his own notice to the vice governor with a clear and direct message – respective department heads and chiefs of offices, including hospitals, will no longer attend.
What will happen, Tupas told Suplico, is that the committee will be assisted by the Provincial Legal Officer, Atty Salvador Cabaluna III, in carrying out its mandate.
Legislative jurisdiction on the Capitol budget of over P1.1 billion -- P1,180,153,862 to be exact, has bulk of the planned expenditures and corresponding increase in Social Services. Capitol's social service-expenditures for 2009 is pegged at over P450 million or 38% of the total planned budget.
The News Today (TNT) in a check of the 505-paged 2009 Proposed Executive Budget learned of exclusion of some current expenditure alongside the inclusion of "reincarnated" items.
Foremost is in the Office of the Governor where subsidy to regional offices had been scrapped ending this year's subsidy budget of P600,000. Reincarnated though is P1 million in "Intelligence Funds" backed by P500,000 in "Rewards and other Claims" the governor now wants.
No change on the over P2 million for gas and lubricant expense for Tupas and his office as he maintains the need for his consultants with appropriation of P1.3 million still.
Among the considerable increases will be with the Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (IRC) where current budget of over P36 million will be increased to over P46.8 million in 2009.
Iloilo Sports Complex from over P10.6 million hopes to get SP nod on its planned P20.1 million 2009 budget. A big increase too for the Provincial Engineers' Office with a current budget of over P87.1 million to P102 million and the Provincial Health Office from P52.1 million to P59.4 million.
Provincial Treasurer's Office will also see an increase from P25.9 million to P39.3 million and the General Services Office from current P56 million to P60.8 million.
Thus far, the Public Information Section is the only department with a slashed budget where its current whole year P1,478,247 will become P1,425,883.
Allotted for the Capitol's food supplies in 2009 is over P24.1 million or some P10 million more from the Drugs and Medicines allotment of over P14.8 million.
Still "not much" if compared to Gasoline, Oil and Lubricants expense expected to be over P34.4 million.
With the substation in place, electricity expenses are within the range of P26.4 million.
Janitorial services is fixed at P2.5 million while security is a little over P6.7 million for next year.
Capitol donations on the other hand will reach over P11.3 million
As for traveling expenses, officials and employees of the Capitol will have over P19.8 million in travel fund for 2009, the biggest of over P8 million in pursuit of social services.
And finally, office supplies is over P15.7 million as advertising expenses will be within the P2.2 million range.