The city council on Monday has approved the income portion of the proposed 2021 annual budget of the City of Baguio amounting to P1,904,482,458 to be collected from internal and external sources.
The city’s current budget is P2.225B.
Local/internal sources include receipts from tax revenue – P422.120 million; non-tax revenue – P350.310M; and share from economic zones – P125M totaling P897.430M.
External sources are the shares from Internal Revenue Allotment – P1.4B; and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office – P2.5M for a total of P1.7B.
Meanwhile, the body through Resolution 582, s. 2020 has requested the city’s Local Finance Committee to come up with a study on the possibility of putting these collections placed under the trust fund into the general fund.
The plan, if feasible, is a remedy to increase the budget considering the restriction that any portion of the trust fund cannot be reappropriated to other projects or activities aside from its specific intentions/purposes as it is not considered as a regular income.
The city council through Resolution 606, s. 2020 has authorized City Mayor Benjamin Magalong for the city government to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Dynamic Outsource Solution, Inc. for the implementation of the Truck Pre-Alert Support System or TPASS for cargo and logistics services passing through the city’s borders.
This is in support to the city’s initiative of ensuring individuals entering the city are not exposed to Covid-2019 from their point of origin to prevent the risks of transmission.
TPASS is a sort of online registration which can be used to track and trace movement of cargo and other goods between borders. It can also be used to gather data and statistics pertinent to policy formulation as well as in contact tracing of drivers and personnel of logistics and cargo companies entering and leaving the city.
In Resolution 589, s. 2020, the barangay officials and the Baguio City Police Office were urged to be vigilant in deterring all acts of vandalism in public places and in areas that showcase works of art in the city.
The resolution stated that such reprehensible act inflicted on public buildings and facilities often costs significant amount of taxpayers’ money for the repair and restoration of vandalized structures instead of spending on more important projects and productive endeavors.
“Even works of art are not safe from acts of vandalism like what happened to that National Commission for Culture and Arts-funded mural made by local artist Venazir Martinez at the PNR,” the resolution stated.
It added that steps must be taken to deter similar acts from happening in the future taking into consideration that Baguio is a creative city as declared by the Unesco, and the huge amount of time, talent, and effort being invested into the works of art that help beautify the city.
April 26, 2024
