Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on Friday, October 27, called on barangays that received funds under the Barangay Development Program to hasten the completion of their projects and submission of liquidation reports.
There are some barangays that have very poor completion and liquidation rates, and their deadline is December 2023, Lacson said in an interview after the Negros Occidental Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting at the provincial Capitol on Friday.
If the funds are not used by the end of December they will revert back to the national treasury, which would be such a waste, Lacson said.
Teodora Sumagaysay , Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) provincial director, reported during the PPOC meeting that in 2022 there were 70 barangays in 18 local government units that received funding for 77 projects.
The recipients were barangays that had been declared insurgency free.
She said 29 of the projects were completed and 48 are ongoing.
The report said four projects in Kabankalan City had a 57 percent completion rate and a zero liquidation completion rate.
In Toboso there are seven projects with 56.95 percent completion rates and 32.08 percent liquidation rates, the report added.
“It is a waste if the barangays that are declared insurgency free don’t know how to utilize the financial assistance given to them,” Lacson said.
The fund allocation for barangays declared insurgency free will be P10 million each next year, Lacson pointed out.*