Committee wraps up marathon budget hearing

CEBU, Philippines — The committee on budget and finance of the Cebu City Council has wrapped up the budget hearing marathon and is set to render a report for deliberation in the plenary.

In an interview with the reporters on Thursday, committee chairperson Councilor Noel Wenceslao has retained his position in advising some of the departments to assess their priorities for budget allocations.

This is after finding out that most proposed budgets are observed to have increased in comparison to the budget proposals of the year 2023 including the Office of the Mayor.

The Office of the Mayor through the Local Finance Committee has doubled its proposal for 2024 with P100 billion from its previous proposal of P50 billion.

“We do not know the wisdom of the council nga amo bang i-approve ang 100 billion or do we have to lessen,” said Wenceslao

According to Wenceslao, now that the deliberation of these proposed budgets is upcoming, the departments were advised to realign their priorities in terms of budget allocations.

He added the City Council cannot decide to slash off their budget proposals adding that they cannot determine all the areas that need to be prioritized.

Generally, Wenceslao advised the departments to prioritize the salaries of their employees which he said was the most important allocation. Aside from this, Wenceslao also told the departments to re-assess their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE).

“Then aside from that, unsay essential nila nga gamitonon like gusto ang MICS (Management Information Computer Services) nga i-upgrade nato atong technology, para nila this is a priority, we need also to improve,” said Wenceslao.

Aside from these, Wenceslao also stated some of the notable projects that need prioritization including the road widening to address traffic congestion and flood mitigation projects.

Previously, the Local Finance Committee has presented that the majority of their budget allocation for the P100 billion proposed budget is to combat climate change that includes a development of drainage systems.

The marathon budget hearing began last November 13, 2023 and ended last November 20, 2023. (CEBU NEWS)