TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines- The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cagayan province cut the budget for the information program of the provincial government to more than half of the proposal.
From more than P3.8 million proposed budget for the program under the Cagayan Provincial Information Office (CPIO), the provincial board reduced the budget of the program to P601,500.
On Friday, December 1, the provincial board finally approved the 2017 executive budget of the province, adopting recommendations of the Committee on Finance and Appropriations.
For its reduction, the board said the information program was “proved ineffective.”
“The reason for the reduction of the proposed appropriations is because the management and administration of this program proved ineffective and unproductive,” the Committee on Finance and Appropriations said in its report.
The advertisement expense budget of P1,528,000 was reduced to P1,000 while the printing and binding expense budget of P979,000 was cut to P500.
The P293,000 budget for Gasoline, Oil and Lubricants was also reduced to P100,000. The budget for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) amounting to P1 million was slashed to half.
“Needless to state, the said program which is supposed to deliver informative discussions, disseminations of the various programs, projects, and activities of the local government as well as promotion of the respectable image of the officials and employees of the Provincial Government, resulted in the negative,” the report said.
The CPIO, under the administration of Rogie Sending, earned the ire of the mostly opposition board members, accusing the office of reporting “unfair” information to its social media page and radio programs.
Sending, in his defense, said he was only relaying the stand of Governor Manuel Mamba on certain issues.
Meanwhile, Sending also said Mamba is set to line veto certain provisions of the appropriation ordinance, but admitted the provincial board can still revoke it. Northernforum.net
