Dagupan, Urdaneta highest budgeted cities in Region-1

Among the nine cities' Ilocos Region

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

URDANETA CITY – Two local government units in Pangasinan lead the nine cities in Region 1 in topping the 2017 budgetary appropriation this year.

This City and Dagupan City have an annual appropriation budget of eight hundred fifty million pesos (P850, 000.000) and eight hundred fifty eight million pesos (P858, 000.000), respectively.

Dagupan City Mayor Belen Fernandez shows a sign of her
 style of governance.

Mayor Amadeo Gregorio "Bobom" E. Perez, IV said that this bustling city has P850 million allocations for economic, social, and general services based on the approved local development plans, expenditure for each development activity between current operating expenditures and capital outlays.
 Mayor Perez explained that this city has higher revenue than other cities in Region 1 because of the bigger sizes of its population and its land area.

The Local Government Code said that province, city, and municipality have each shares of 50% on population, 25% on land area, and 25% equal sharing on the internal revenue allotment from their shares on the collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

City Administrator Ronald San Juan told Northern Watch last year that this city was less dependent on the internal revenue allotment from the national government since it collected more on the local taxes here.

“It is like 60-40 percentage equation,” San Juan cited.
Ms Saniata A. Elegores, this city’s treasurer, cited that this city pays tens of millions of pesos of amortization from her previous loans to Land Bank of the Philippines for the principal and interest of the debts on the sanitary landfill and the new public market.

This City is known as a trading center of cattle, vegetables, and fruits in Northern and Central Luzon.

The P858 million budget of Dagupan City for this year would cover personal services amounting to P297, 556,654.67; maintenance and other operating expenditures amounting to P380, 529,657.83; capital outlay for P148, 987,687.50; and financial expenses amounting to P30, 926,000.

Laoag City, Ilocos Norte’s Budget Officer Carlina Cumigad cited that her city’s total budget for 2017 is P747, 625,399.00. Cumigad said the budgetary appropriation came from the city’s estimated annual general fund of 557,772,000.00 and the economic enterprise of 189,493,000.00.

The other six cities in Region1 that have less budgetary appropriations for 2017 are Batac City in Ilocos Norte. Candon and Vigan Cities in Ilocos Sur, San Fernando City in La Union, Alaminos and San Carlos Cities in Pangasinan.