Cebu proposes P14.6-B 2027 budget

CEBU — Cebu province is proposing a P14.6-billion budget for 2027, with healthcare, food security, water supply, infrastructure and disaster preparedness among its main priorities.

The proposed budget is 22.7 percent higher than the current P11.9-billion allocation. Provincial officials said the increase was within the province’s projected funding capacity and was driven mainly by higher National Tax Allotment revenues and expected hospital income.

Healthcare accounts for P5.856 billion, or 40.2 percent of the proposed budget. The province has been expanding the capacity of four provincial hospitals and 12 district hospitals, while seeking to improve medical equipment, medicines, supplies, staffing and public health services.

Provincial officials said the aim is to develop the province’s hospitals into fully functional Level II facilities and upgrade district hospitals from infirmaries to Level I hospitals. Level I facilities provide general medicine, basic surgery, pediatric and maternity care and emergency services. Level II hospitals offer specialist departments, more advanced surgery and intensive care.

Hospital income is expected to help sustain operations and finance improvements, but officials said the quality and accessibility of patient care would remain the measure of success.

The proposed allocation for agriculture and water is P354.824 million higher than this year’s budget, an increase of 142 percent. The funding is intended to provide supplies, equipment and facilities to help farmers and fisherfolk increase production and protect their livelihoods.

The province’s water supply allocation would rise from P25 million to P100 million as officials prepare for the anticipated effects of Super El Niño.

The proposal also includes P220 million for roads, bridges, repairs and street lighting, and P25 million for drainage, slope protection, seawalls and flood mitigation.