Iloilo 2019 budget ruckus
The Beekeeper By Pet Melliza Are lump sums allowed in annual budgets of local government units (LGU)? This question is now subject of contention between the legislative and executive branches of government of Iloilo Province. Governor Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. insists that is legal as he integrated lump sums in his proposed 2019 annual budget which now hangs because majority at the sangguniang panlalawigan (SP) want them itemized first. I don’t want to dip my hands in the fray. But being one of the 2,000 or so provincial employees whose fourth and last tranche of salary increase under the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) effective January 2019 is in limbo, this is no longer funny especially the insistence of the majority to “itemize” all those pesky lump sums as sine qua non . Back to the question: are lump sum allowed in LGU annual budgeting. I dare answer: “YES”. The law not only makes that automatic but also mandatory of LGUs to appropriate out of th