Cebu Metropolis Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has proposed a P17.9 billion price range for 2025, | CDN Photograph/ Pia Piquero [FILE PHOTO]
CEBU CITY, Philippines— Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia proposed a P17.9 billion price range for 2025, a scaled-down price range in comparison with earlier years in what he referred to as a extra “real looking” plan.
Garcia introduced throughout a press convention on October 21 that Cebu Metropolis would give attention to real looking targets based mostly on its precise income capability.
The proposed price range might be formally offered on the Metropolis Council session on October 23 and is anticipated to be referred to the Committee on Price range and Finance, chaired by Councilor Noel Wenceslao.
“I need a real looking price range og unsa ray atong makolekta, mao ra say atong igasto. Dili kay 25 or 50 bilyon ang atong bills, pero ang atong nakolekta dise-otso ra o kinse. So that is what I need to do for subsequent 12 months, nga now we have a sensible price range whereby ang atong revenue ug bills magtakdo, dili nga ‘shortfall’ ang atong revenue unya sobra ang atong bills,” Garcia mentioned.
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The 2025 price range plan prioritizes a number of important providers. Personnel providers take the biggest share at P2.4 billion, adopted by P1.1 billion for senior residents’ monetary assist, P400 million for barangays, P550 million for rubbish assortment and disposal, and P450 million for socialized housing.
Different allocations embody P240 million for avenue repairs, P400 million for the Cebu Metropolis Corridor Automated Administration Program (CHAMP), and P200 million for local weather change adaptation initiatives.
Well being providers and housing stay high priorities for Garcia. He defined that, though there is no such thing as a extra funding for the Cebu Metropolis Medical Heart (CCMC) on this 12 months’s price range, his administration is counting on a partnership with the Cebu Medical Society to complete the remaining flooring of the hospital.
“Ang uban nga portion can even be from katong atong settlement with Cebu Medical Society nga sila’y mo-continue sa seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and even eleventh flooring. So, precedence baya nako ang well being, in order that is without doubt one of the issues. Tingali mga hospital tools nalang as soon as every thing is completed, mao nay atong iprioritize,” he mentioned.
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The P17.9 billion price range proposal is a notable distinction from earlier price range plans.
In 2023, former Mayor Michael Rama proposed an enormous P100 billion price range for 2024. Of this, P77.066 billion was earmarked for capital outlays, together with flood prevention measures. Nonetheless, after thorough deliberations, the Metropolis Council diminished the proposal to P25 billion.
Rama additionally proposed a P51.4 billion price range for 2023 to fund his imaginative and prescient of reworking Cebu Metropolis right into a “Singapore-like” metropolis. But, the Fee on Audit (COA) flagged the town’s revenue projections as “unrealistic,” notably attributable to its heavy reliance on Actual Property Tax (RPT).
Though the 2023 price range was permitted at P50 billion, by October 2023, the town’s precise assortment stood at solely P7.5 billion, effectively in need of what was wanted to help the proposed applications.
COA’s 2023 audit flagged the town’s monetary planning. It famous that the “overestimation” of income, notably RPT created a niche between revenue projections and precise collections.
The town projected P40 billion in RPT for 2023 however managed to gather solely somewhat over P1 billion. COA reported that the 2023 fiscal 12 months was the “most aggressive” when it comes to overestimated revenue projections, resulting in a mismatch between expectations and monetary realities.
With the earlier revenue shortfalls, Garcia acknowledged the necessity to align expectations with actuality. He mentioned that the town had been accumulating lower than projected and expressed his purpose of setting a price range that would genuinely be met relatively than simply creating unrealistic numbers.
“I simply need to be real looking, and I need to handle the expectations of our folks. Atong mga Cebuano nga moingon, ‘Dako kaayo ang price range, unya wa lagi tay makit-an kaayo nga enchancment sa infrastructure o sa providers.’ That’s as a result of gamay ra kaayo atong nakolekta,” he mentioned.
Garcia is hopeful that the council will approve his proposed 2025 price range. He expressed frustration from his time as vice mayor, noting that previous budgets typically didn’t align with the town’s monetary realities.
“Very a lot constructive. I believe the councilors will say, ‘Alleluia! We now have a sensible price range.’ That’s my private tackle it as a result of after I was Vice Mayor, we all the time had issue. Sus paeta, P100 billion ang gi-propose. Unsaon mani? Unrealistic man! P50 billion gi-propose. Unsaon man? Unrealistic mani! P25 billion gi-propose, lisud ba! I believe this one is a extra real looking price range the place we are able to actually say that duol-duol na ni sa atong assortment,” Garcia mentioned.
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