Quezon City council OKs P28.7 billion budget for 2021

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Quezon City council has approved the proposed budget of P28.7 billion for 2021, almost P1 billion higher than the P27.8 billion appropriated this year.

In a statement yesterday, the city government said social welfare and services will still get the biggest chunk of the budget at P13.9 billion, up from P12.3 billion this year.

It earmarked P10.2 billion for general public services, P3.4 billion for economic services and P1.2 billion for the legislative branch.

The breakdown for the appropriations has yet to be released.

Mayor Joy Belmonte said the allocation of funds for next year is rooted in the city’s objective of providing responsive and efficient social services for all residents, especially with the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

“The need for social services support during these times is expected to remain high, as many of our citizens struggle against the pandemic and under the new normal,” she said.

Belmonte said the city government hoped for a small budget next year as it may face challenges in meeting revenue targets due to the pandemic hindering economic growth.

However, she said this is not possible since there is a need to address the needs of residents given the current health crisis.

“Salaries and wages across the board have risen significantly, driven by the Salary Standardization Law and our need to provide competitive salaries for our healthcare workers,” she said.

“And lastly, we have to provide adequate and improved healthcare for all,” said Belmonte.

Assistant city administrator for finance Don Javillonar said these were reflected in the augmented budget of the City Health Department (CHD).

“We increased our CHD’s budget by 95 percent, taking into consideration new programs such as the health emergency response to outbreaks or pandemics, the Quezon City molecular diagnostic laboratory and the increased fund for the procurement of drugs and medicines,” he said.

In addition to the P27.8-billion budget this year, the city government earlier approved a supplemental budget of P2.8 billion to provide support to those affected by lockdowns.

The local school board also approved a supplemental budget of P2.9 billion to support the shift to distance learning in public schools.