BACOLOD CITY - The P3.2 billion proposed annual budget for 2022 was unanimously approved by the City Council on third and final reading on Wednesday, Nov. 10.
This was confirmed by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, who acted as presiding officer during the council’s regular session.
A committee hearing was conducted by Councilor Cindy Rojas, chairperson of the Council’s Committee on Appropriation, Budget and Finance, prior to the approval of the budget.
The 2022 annual budget is higher by about P600 million, or at least 18 percent compared to this year’s budget of P2.6 billion.
Familiaran said the annual budget for next year will focus more on health programs due to the pandemic, while the budget intended for infrastructure may be realigned to fund the health programs here.
Familiaran had earlier said the increase in the 2022 budget was because of the Mandanas Ruling issued by the Supreme Court, which stated that the just share of local government units, also known as Internal Revenue Allotment, must be computed based on all national taxes and not just from National Internal Revenue Taxes.