Laoag City council oks P778M 2018 budget

By Dominic Dela Cruz

Laoag City—Mayor Chevylle V. Fariñas signed the approved annual budget for the city government of Laoag.

The 2018 budget totals of PHP778,726,526.44, an increase of PHP31.5 million compared to this year’s budget. This year’s budget is PHP747,185,530.33.

Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod unanimously approved the annual budget during a regular session on November 27, 2017.

The Ilocos Times learned that the council referred the budget to the body as a committee of the whole. It took them one month to study and deliberate on the budget. Prior to this, the city’s local finance committee also deliberated and held consultations for the budget.

Ms. Fariñas led the consultations with all department heads verifying and defending their respective budgets.

The lady mayor said the budget was prepared after a “thorough deliberation with all the concerned offices to make it an effective tool for allocating equitably the limited resources of government to the different sectors”.

The city’s projected internal revenue allotment (IRA) share of PHP447,637,204.00 for 2018. The committee considered this in the budgetary allocations. The city’s IRA share for this year is PHP416,848,199.00. the projected IRA for next year has an increase of at least PHP31 million.

The Laoag City General Hospital (LCGH) has the biggest budget allocation with PHP131,034,521.90; followed by the City Engineering Office and the City Mayor’s Office with PHP79,961,327.31 and PHP71,969,875.36, respectively.

While the budgets of the city cemetery, Office of the City Administrator and the legal office has the least budget allocations with PHP192,030.00; PHP1,264,274.32 and PHP1,405,530 respectively.

Under the budget, the city government also allocated cash for “Special Purpose Appropriations”, which include the City Development Plan with PHP121.5 million, or an increase of PHP19 million from this year’s PHP102 million; calamity fund with PHP29,735,860.20; and aid to barangays with PHP18,370.000.00.

The city government also allocated subsidies to the different national agencies: the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Bureau of Fire Protection, Commission on Audit, Regional and Metropolitan Trial Courts, Office of the City Prosecutor, Public Attorney’s Office, Dept. of Interior and Local Government, and National Bureau of Investigation.

The city also allocated PHP3,380,190.00 for the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).

The 2018 budget also contains aids to traffic enforcement, barangay tanods, tricycle/calesa association, Peoples Law Enforcement Board, City Anti-Drug Abuse Council, Sangguniang Kabataan, and the HIV/AIDS council.

The Laoag officials also allocated PHP4 million for the Best Barangay Governance Performance Management System (BGPMS) Implementer-Barangay Level.

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