By Rjay Zuriaga Castor
The Iloilo City Council approved a third supplemental budget of approximately PHP501 million on Wednesday, Nov. 14, to fund terminal leave pay and ongoing infrastructure projects.
The budget, totaling PHP501,777,362.28, covers allocations for personal services, maintenance, operating expenses, capital outlay, and special accounts, including the Local Economic Enterprise Office, which received PHP102,900.
City Budget Officer Viminale Capulso said funds for personal services are designated for terminal leave benefits for retired employees, additional compensation for overtime, and newly created positions in the city mayor’s office and the health department.
The maintenance and operating expenses will fund garbage collection and disposal, rental of heavy equipment, and additional soil cover for the city’s waste disposal facility at the Calajunan dumpsite in the Mandurriao district.
“We have also allocated additional funding for our Senior Citizen Welfare Program, the Centenarian and Citizens Welfare Program, and our Counterpart to 4Ps Program,” Capulso added.
Capital outlay projects include Phase II of the rehabilitation of public markets such as the Jaro Big Market, La Paz Public Market, and Arevalo Public Market, procurement of demolition hammers for the Office of the City Engineer, and construction of several multi-purpose buildings.
“The demolition hammers were proposed during the committee hearing for the 2025 annual budget, and we decided to provide for them in our 2024 budget,” Capulso said.
Funding for the public market rehabilitation will come from a city loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines, totaling PHP300,000.
Earlier in August, a PHP411 million supplemental budget was approved, with part of it allocated for a salary increase benefiting over 2,000 city government employees.
The city’s first supplemental budget this year was approximately PHP452 million, including allocations for an additional PHP1,000 clothing allowance for regular employees and a PHP30 wage increase for job hires.
