- *NND NEWS TEAM
The Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved on Tuesday, Nov. 16, on third and final reading the P5.7 billion budget of the province for 2022.
The General Fund is P5,719,337,346. The Economic Enterprise Development Fund, meanwhile, totals P183, 846,173.
Board Member Jeffrey Tubola said there were no delays in the scheduled hearings of the budgets of various departments, so the passage of the 2022 provincial budget was more than a week’s ahead, compared to last year’s approval of the 2021 budget in the last week of November.
Next year’s budget increased by P1.3 billion, as reported by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson earlier, due to the Mandanas ruling of the Supreme Court which states that all collections of the Bureau of Customs and other taxes should be included in the computation of the National Tax Allotment, formerly the Internal Revenue Allotment, share of local government units.
“I am thankful to Vice Governor Jeffrey Ferrer and the entire SP for approving our 2022 Annual Budget. Given the circumstances, it is important that, at the start of the year, the annual budget is already in place,” Lacson said.
He said the province’s annual expenditure program was designed to better address the exigent concerns of Negros Occidental.
“Our continuing battle with COVID-19 resulted in disruptions of our day to day operations, adversely affected business operations, and endangered our health and wellbeing. Such crisis resulted in a shift on our priorities and spending policies. At this point, our primary goal is to recover and get back on track under the new normal,” Lacson said.
He added that the pandemic “has tested us to adapt and reset if need be. Our annual budget for the year 2022 is a testament of our hopes, resilience, and faith as a people.” — MML,GB
