Vico Sotto: Pasig’s P3-billion ‘savings’ not an achievement, but a challenge to spend better
MANILA, Philippines — Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Saturday, August 16, clarified that the city government’s P3-billion “savings” should not be celebrated as an achievement, but rather as a reminder that funds must flow back to the people.
“Government ‘SURPLUS’ or ‘SAVINGS’ is NOT an accomplishment,” Sotto said.
“Hindi dapat nag-iimbak ng pera ang gobyerno, dapat nilalabas ito para tulungan ang mga tao at para palaguin ang ekonomiya,” he added.
(The government should not hoard money; it should spend it to help the people and grow the economy.)
Sotto explained that the city was able to save money largely because of reforms in procurement and because the local government has yet to fully maximize its budget, which doubled in just five years.
According to Sotto, Pasig’s savings mainly came from two factors. These are:
1. Reforms against corruption in procurement
Stricter procurement rules and the elimination of kickbacks lowered project costs.
"To keep it short, the main reason is that because of TRUE OPEN BIDDING AND NO KICKBACKS, prices go down. What was previously 100M can now be done for 80 or even lower," Sotto said.
2. Limited absorptive capacity of the local government
Pasig’s budget jumped from P10 billion to P20 billion within five years. While spending for social services, salaries and infrastructure also grew, Sotto explained that it did not keep pace with the budget increase.
"Our annual budget doubled in 5 years from around 10B to 20B. Our expenditures (social services, other services, salaries, and infra) have also almost doubled, but not quite (very rough estimate from 9B to 16B)," the Pasig mayor said, explaining that the city continues to invest in long-term reforms in planning and implementation.
“Nagtatanim tayo nang maayos ngayon para mas gumanda pa ang aanihin natin bukas,” he added.
(We are planting carefully today so that our harvest tomorrow will be even better.)
‘Credit where credit is due’
The mayor also acknowledged that Pasig did not inherit debt from the previous administration. The P15 billion in cash declared by his predecessors, he said, mostly consisted of continuing appropriations, accounts payable and savings from vacant plantilla posts.
"But still, we give credit where credit is due," he added.
Portion of Pasig’s funds unspent
The Commission on Audit reported that Pasig City had a budget surplus in 2023 but struggled to use all of its funds, especially for education.
The city spent only about 34% (P573.6 million) of its P1.69 billion Special Education Fund, leaving over P1.1 billion unused due to problems with procurement and project implementation.
The findings, released in late 2024, show that while reforms have saved money, fully using the budget to help residents is still a challenge.
RELATED: Metro Manila cities leave millions in education funds unused, COA finds
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