ARMM proposes P12.6 Billion budget for FY2010

ARMM Technical Budget Hearing- ARMM Regional Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan (inset) presents to the officials of the Department of Budget and Management(DBM) headed by Undersecretary Mario Relampagos (center) the FY 2010 proposed ARMM Budget amounting to P12.6 Billion during the Technical Budget Hearing at the Water Front Hotel in Davao City on June 18, 2009. (omar mangorsi/bpi-armm)

ARMM proposes P12.6 Billion budget for FY2010

The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is proposing a P12.6Billion budget for fiscal year 2010, higher by at least P3 Billion than the ceiling set by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan and his Cabinet presented the proposal in a technical budget hearing administered by the DBM last week in Davao City. The DBM has recommended a P9.6 Billion budget for the region for next year.

Ampatuan said the substantial increase would be crucial to support key programs on health, education, poverty reduction and social services. The region will also need the additional budget to finance the construction of more farm- to-market roads and other vital infrastructures.

The DBM team was headed by Undersecretary Mario Relampagos and Director Luz Cantor and five other members. Relampagos urged the regional government to substantiate its budget proposal.

He said the request for budgetary increase must be accompanied by performance-based projects.

DBM’s recommended budget of P9.6 Billion is slightly lower than the budget of ARMM for the present fiscal year, which is P9.7 Billion.

ARMM Solicitor General Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said the regional government will also be giving high priority to the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), a leading international organization that provides comprehensive information and analysis on internal displacements based in Geneva, Switzerland, reveals that the country ranks number 1 worldwide in the total number of IDPs last year. A staggering 600,000 individuals in Mindanao, a vast majority in the ARMM, were forced to flee their homes to avoid the clashes between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The regional government would need sufficient funds to respond to the immediate relief and rehabilitation needs in the affected areas, she said.

Around 70% of the proposed budget would go to personal services (PS), 12% for capital outlay (CO) and the rest for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).