Board Member Tars Halili disclosed that some P22 million had been approved for the Biyaya a Luluguran at Sisiskapan (Balas) which handles the quarry operations. In the proposed budget, Gov. Eddie Panlilio asked for P67 million for Balas and a total of P1,267,487,641.43 annual budget for the province.
“The declining collections in the quarry operations compared last year had given us no recourse but to slash the Balas budget,” said Halili in an interview after the budget deliberation. “The governor is asking for more funds when the quarry collection is drastically dwindling.”
Halili said they had repeatedly asked for the report on the number of workers and checkpoints used for the provincial quarry operations but they have yet to receive it.
“How can we determine the budget for them when we have yet to get the vital information?,” added Halili.
Board Member Ric Yabut disclosed that they had deferred some P7.5 million in the maintenance and other operating expenditures (MOEE) of the Office of the Governor.
Panlilio had asked for P12.6 million.
It could be recalled that Panlilio resorted to riding public utility vehicles for two days last year after the SP failed to approve the supplemental budget for his office’s MOEE.
Yabut also disclosed that they had deferred P10 million in the intelligence fund of the governor.
“Some of the budget we deferred may be still be approved but they should justify them,” said Yabut.
Panlilio has yet to return calls to this paper for his reaction.
