Showcasing his commitment to transparency in governance, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto unveiled to the public the ‘big ticket items’ or highlights of the city’s approved P15 billion budget for 2023.
Sotto presented the 30-minute budget report in a video uploaded on his official Youtube page on Thursday, Nov. 17.
Vice Mayor Robert Dodot Jaworski Jr. described the budget as “the largest budget the city of Pasig has ever seen.”
In the overall P15 billion budget, the estimated P10 billion comes from the city’s local sources of revenue or local income, Sotto said in his report.
Half of the P10 billion comes from business taxes, while the other P5 billion comes from real property taxes, which is Pasig’s second biggest source of income. Other smaller portions of the budget are from other sources such as the local government's collected fees.
To clearly explain the intricacies of the budget, Sotto categorized the appropriations according to “service classification.”
Health
The biggest chunk of the approved P15 billion budget was allotted to health services at 28.24 percent for overall amount of P4,236,287,466.
Pasig City is surely on its way towards implementing universal healthcare, Sotto said.
Since his first mayoral term in 2019, the local government has introduced a new information technology (IT) system to the City Health Department (CHD), hired more nurses and other healthcare workers, and renovated health centers.
From P1.4 billion in 2022, the CHD will have a P1.8 billion budget for 2023. A large portion of this budget will go to personal services or for the salaries of healthcare workers and department staff.
The 2023 budget allotted for the Pasig City General Hospital (PCGH) is P1.2 billion. Sotto said a “cardiac catheterization laboratory” will be built in the PCGH by next year. The local government is also eyeing a program strengthening PCGH’s solid and infectious waste systems.
With P1.3 billion in the budget, there will be an expansion of services in Pasig City Children’s Hospital (PCCH), with the local government reviewing the possible conversion of the PCCH into a general hospital.
Sotto said they are not rushing this project, noting the technical working group’s ongoing study for the three to five year plan.
Infrastructure
The local government will continue its renovation and rehabilitation of Tanghalang Pasigueno, Pasig City Market, Pasig City Library, Pasig City Museum, and the RAVE Rainforest Park.
For 2023, it will begin construction on the new “Discovery Centrum,” which Sotto assured will be compliant with national and international standards.
He said there are plans for two medium-rise buildings in Barangay Santolan. Soil testing is currently being conducted at the site by the engineering department. The beneficiaries of this housing project will be the more than 200 families affected by the revetment wall construction of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Around P1 billion pesos was approved for land acquisition or “land banking” of the local government.
Almost 95 percent of land in Pasig City has been built-up or occupied, Sotto said. The local government immediately reviews available lands to buy in order to construct schools, health centers, housing or other infrastructure for future services.
The creation and continuous improvement of the Flood Control Master Plan led by the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) is ongoing.
Sotto said these projects will still undergo the public bidding process which will determine their actual costs.
Education, social welfare
Around 9.70 percent of the overall budget will be allotted to education services in the amount of P1,454,129,006.
Sotto highlighted the local government’s plans to increase the number of scholars included in the Pasig City Scholarship Program (PCSP) from 23,000 to 25,000, in cooperation with the Schools Division Office (SDO).
For 2023, the government allotted P242 million for the scholarship program.
The local government also aims to increase its provision of school supplies for the school year 2023 to 2024, he added.
For social welfare services, 6.72 percent or P1,007,798,472 will be utilized in 2023.
The big ticket item for this category are the programs for senior citizens spearheaded by the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
Some P210 million has been allotted for the December 2023 cash gift distribution to roughly 70,000 registered seniors in Pasig. Each qualified beneficiary will receive P3,000 through the annual year-end program.
For the newly-launched Local Senior Pension (LSP), wherein seniors will each get P500 per month, P228 million has been allotted for the 2023 distribution. This amount can help around 38,100 beneficiaries.
Other service classifications are economic services, which got 14.96 percent or P2,243,650,538 in appropriations, as well as the legislative services that had 2.32 percent or P348,721,557 allocated funds for next year.
The appropriated budget for the general public services is at 38.06 percent, equivalent to P5,709,412,961.
However, the general public services classification is further subdivided into services and sectors not included in the basic categories such as maintenance expenses, janitorial services, security services, and the peace and order department.
Power of the purse
Sotto said he is proud of the 11th City Council, headed by Vice Mayor Jaworski, in conducting the “most comprehensive, detailed, and open deliberations that he has witnessed.”
He praised Jaworski for “professionalizing” the city council, which is the primary government body that holds what he called the “power of the purse.”
“Para sa isang maunlad na lungsod, dapat gumagana ang checks and balances natin. Para sa good governance, kailangan functioning ang ating Sangguniang Panlungsod kasi kami sa executive, ang mayor’s office, di namin makikita ang lahat. Kami ang nagbabalangkas ng budget proposal, pero mayroon din kaming blind spots ((For a progressive city, our check-and-balance mechanisms must be effective. For good governance, our city council needs to be functional because we, in the executive body, cannot see everything. We draft the budget proposals, but we also have blind spots),” Sotto said.
“Ang pinakaimportanteng trabaho ng Sangguniang Panlungsod ay i-review, pagaralan, at ipasa o amyendahan ang budget (The most important job of the city council is to review, study, and pass or amend the budget),” he added.
Sotto's full report can be viewed below: