GOV. Ramon Guico III is eyeing a P7-billion budget for the provincial government next year, up by 22% from this year’s approved P5.73-billion allocation.

Alongside the budget hike, he said they plan to increase local revenues by up to P400,000, citing good collection in quarrying and further improvements in the management of provincial hospitals, including processing of PhilHealth claims.

“Once we improve that, mas malaki yung papasok sa mga hospitals kasi yung dati, yun ang nagbibigay ng malaking pagkalugi eh pero ngayon we’re focusing on better hospital services at the same time efficient collections kaya nata- target po natin yung mga collections targets natin,” he told local newsmen Monday.

As the filing of certificate of candidacy in October is getting closer, Guico said they have to finish the budget before they shift towards a political and campaign mode.

“Tapusin muna naming i-set muna lahat at saka tayo magkampanya,” he said.

For his part, Vice Gov. Mark Lambino said in a separate interview that the executive and legislative branches of the provincial government already had initial talks with the Local Finance Committee about the budget proposal.

“This is approximately P1.3 billion higher than the 2024 annual budget,” he said, noting the increase is based on the expected hike in the National Tax Allocation (NTA) share of the province, aside from the projected increase in locally-generated income.

“Hindi po tayo nag o-overproject, hindi rin tayo nag a-underproject so base po sa recommendations ng Local Finance Committee, ng budget, ng treasury, P7-billion is an ideal number,” he added.

Lambino also assured that there will be no increase in tax rates and other revenue sources next year, just improvements in collection efficiency for existing ordinances that would generate income for the province. (Eva Visperas)

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