The World Bank through the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) and national agencies will help fund big ticket infrastructure projects of Negros Occidental, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Monday, June 27.
Negros Occidental that is faced with a cut in its National Tax Allotment (NTA) next year is continuing to seek outside sources of funding, Diaz said.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, it his inaugural speech Saturday, cited the construction of the PRDP-funded 90 lineal meter Himoga-an bridge in Brgy. Puey, Sagay City, and slaughterhouses in Hinoba-an, Cauayan, Murcia, Toboso, Binalbagan and San Carlos City.
Diaz said the P57.5 million bridge will be funded by the WB through a grant, with only 10 percent to be shouldered by the provincial government and 10 percent by the national government.
Each slaughterhouse will cost from P49 million to P50 million, Diaz added.
“We are really very resourceful in sourcing funds from outside, despite the shortage of our NTA we are still able pursue important projects for Negros Occidental,” he said.
Diaz said with the assistance of Negros Occidental congressmen and Bacolod mayor-elect Alfredo “Albee” Benitez “we will be able to access more funds from national agencies to continue our programs to prosper Negros Occidental with Bacolod City.”
Negros Occidental, its 31 local government units (LGUs) and Bacolod City will suffer a P3.8 billion drop in NTA for 2023, Lacson said last week.
That means they will receive a total of P22,509,531,116 in 2023 compared to P26,317,672,315 in 2022.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) informed Lacson that all LGUs will face 14.47 percent NTA cuts in 2023 because of low tax collections at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The Negros Occidental provincial government 2023 NTA share will drop by P782,280,808, Bacolod City – P302 696, 617, the 12 Negros Occidental cities – P2 billion and 19 municipalities – P706,076,15, the DBM said.*