ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Luzon devider Governor: North Cotabato is a debt-free province

Governor: North Cotabato is a debt-free province

Published Apr 3, 2024 11:02 am

KIDAPAWAN CITY – North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou “Lala” J. Taliño-Mendoza announced on Tuesday, April 2, that the province is debt-free and now be able to improve more services and projects for the people.

GOV. MENDOZA.jpg

MENDOZA (FB)

“Ang pamahalaang panlalawigan ay walang utang (The provincial government has no debt). In fact, various programs and projects worth P666 million have been implemented because of our effective coordination with the government agencies. The amount has been logged as a trust fund,” Mendoza said during her State-of-the Province Address at the provincial capitol gymnasium in Barangay Amas here.

Mendoza revealed the province’s achievements during her address.

She said the province has exceeded tax collection and other fees, enabling it to exceed its target revenue for 2023, which contributed to the construction of infrastructure, strengthening of programs, and growth of the provincial treasury reserves.

Actual collections from tax revenue from local sources reached P80 million, exceeding the P69.8-million target by 114.5 percent. The provincial government also noted an increase in non-tax revenue collection from P303.2 million to P559.3 million.

Mendoza reported that the target revenue of P61 million in the Special Education Fund increased by P10 million to P71.8 million and has reached an overall total of P4.2 billion compared to the P3.9-billion target revenue.

From the P5.1-billion annual budget and four supplemental budgets, the provincial government allocated P1.3 billion for general public services, P787.4 million for nutrition services, P809.6 million for social services, and P2.2 billion for fiscal services.

“We had a surplus of P751 million from the general fund and Special Education Fund. Moreover, the provincial government has recorded assets at P14.8 billion, P799.3-million total liabilities, and P14 billion total equity,” Mendoza said.

She said that the provincial government has allocated P718 million or 20 percent from the National Tax Allotment to implement economic development projects such as school buildings, water supply, road asphalting, and construction of bridges, covered courts, multi-purpose buildings.

North Cotabato also accumulated idle funds over standard operator requirements amounting to P2.3 billion placed under the short-term investment and earned interest ranging from four to five percent per annum.

“The idle funds can be invested following the local treasury operations manual. Also, part of the effort to boost the economy in the province is the regular payment of our remittances to various government agencies,” the governor said.

Mendoza said the province paid a total of P152 million to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from withholding taxes and compensation income of government officials and employees of the provincial capitol.

“Serbisyong totoo is about good financial management and accountable public governance. We believe that a public servant with high morality and integrity will be more sensitive and honest in fulfilling her duties,” she said.

Among the highlights of her SOPA were the provincial government’s programs on infrastructure, agriculture, education, health, social services and welfare, youth development, and peace and security, which includes strengthening the implementation of a drug-free workplace policy.

Mendoza highlighted the province's five development goals and emphasized that a genuine public servant would significantly contribute to developing a culture of professionalism and improving public service.

“The Cotabato province is at the stage of achieving full transformation guided by these goals. Our progress has been fast due to the constant provision of help and support from our lawmakers,” Mendoza said as she thanked the province's representatives.

Based on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) record on the 2023 Good Financial Housekeeping Passers, the governor said Cotabato province ranked No. 1 with 15 out of 18 municipalities passing the assessment.

Mendoza attributed the success of the province to the people behind the projects and programs implemented through their “Serbisyong Totoo” (Genuine Service) advocacy shaped by integrity, transparency, responsible governance, and active citizen participation.

Related Tags

Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza North Cotabato
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.