Baricuatro orders fiscal team creation solving CoA flagging

Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro has established a Public Financial Management (PFM) team to address systemic reporting failures that have hindered the province’s ability to secure national funding following two major disasters in 2025.

Baricuatro signed Executive Order 25, Series of 2026, to organize the team after repeated flags from the Commission on Audit (CoA).

Provincial Administrator Joseph Felix Mari “Ace” Durano said the move is necessary to reconcile the province’s resources with its recovery requirements.

The province is currently struggling to account for expenses related to a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on 30 September 2025 and typhoon "Tino," which struck on 4 November 2025.

“This is one approach of the provincial government under Gov. Pam to close the gap between our resources and the requirements, especially since we have gone through calamities,” Durano said.

According to Durano, the Treasurer’s, Budget and Accounting offices had lost familiarity with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reporting processes due to years of neglect.

The PFM team will act as a support mechanism to restore compliance capacity within those departments.

The push for fiscal transparency comes as the province manages a significantly leaner budget. The approved P11.9 billion budget for 2026 is 52.4 percent lower than the P25 billion budget set by the previous administration.

Durano characterized the former budget as “bloated,” noting that past appropriations often far exceeded actual revenues.

“In other words, we have to adopt high standards... complying with national standards implemented by the DBM,” Durano said, adding that stricter discipline could have prevented previous budget inflations.

National funding remains vital to the province’s fiscal health. Cebu recently secured P720 million in Local Government Support from the national government, split equally between rice assistance and infrastructure projects.

The aid provides a nearly 50 percent boost to the province’s approximately P2 billion development fund. Durano emphasized that maintaining DBM compliance is the only way to ensure such critical infusions of capital continue.