South Cotabato LGU through its Provincial Budget Office (PBO) recently conducted a Budget Forum for Budget Year 2015 Annual Executive Budget (AEB) Preparation.
The budget forum or also called budget “call” is the first step in AEB preparation.
Budget policies are laid down before office heads or representatives to serve as guide for them in preparing their budget.
Governor Daisy P. Avance Fuentes, the Keynote Speaker and who outlined her administration’s development thrusts and priorities for next year, challenged the participants to prepare a “responsive” budget that will cater not only to the immediate needs of the people of South Cotabato but also of their respective office.
Provincial officials and employees in attendance represented the 17 executive and legislative offices of the province.
As part of the preliminaries, Sally Palma of PBO presented first during the technical session the Budget Cycle.
Likewise, PBO chief Luz Perpetua Fontanilla gave budgetary updates, focusing on the MOOE Benchmark/Ceiling and Standards/Economy Measures, while OIC-Provincial Accountant Alvim Batol talked on the latest accounting procedures/updates.
Atty. Romeo Sucaldiito, the Provincial Legal Officer and concurrent Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) Vice-Chairman, discussed the latest about Republic Act 9184 or Government Procurement Reform Act.
Participants were likewise briefed on the Functional Statement Objective and Expected Results and Annual Investment Program (AIP) Issues/Concerns by Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Abner Navarro.
After the short lunch break, a separate session on the General Public Sector and Social and Economic Sectors, were also conducted.
An open forum after the technical session capped the budget call.
Despite the budget ceiling, the province expects an increase in budget for next year of more than P 1billion, most of which comes from its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share.
