P3.7 BILLION ALLOCATED BY MUNTI FOR VARIOUS SERVICES IN 2014

THE bottom-up and performance based planning and budgeting resulted to the passage of some P3.7 billion budget by the Muntinlupa City council which was certified as urgent by Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime R. Fresnedi.

In his recent State of the City Address (SOCA), Mayor Fresnedi disclosed the allocation of the budget for the rest of the year is 11.9 percent higher compared to the 2013 budget.

The bulk of the budget for the year 2014 will be allotted to the Social Services Sector amounting to P1.82 billion which include the programs for education and health services.

Fresnedi said the breakdown for the education sector will be P320 million to the Special Education Fund (SEF) or the School Board, P105 million for Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, P24 million to Day Care Centers, P15 million for Youth Affairs that include assistance to the athletes, and P21 million for TESDA-MCTI.

Some P63 million was allotted to scholarships and education assistance which was broken to P50 million for the Muntinlupa Scholarship Program and P13 million for the Iskolar ng Bayan.

Fresnedi said the bigger allocation for the educational sector is mainly part and parcel of the overall plan of his administration to give premium on education and the youth as a whole.

He disclosed the allocation for education and youth sector is triple compared to the measly P21.5 million budget when he assumed office in 2010.

Part of the educational program under the administration of Mayor Fresnedi is the P300 per month given as allowance to deserving elementary students numbering 1,470 and P400 for high school which is about 525.

In college, Fresnedi said scholars of the city government are given P30,000 per semester and some 40 students are being given an assistance of P3,000 to P5,000 to 40 students in every barangay.

This is aside from the millions of pesos that has been allotted by the city government for health services, livelihood and employment, peace and order, socialized housing and other infrastructure programs aimed at uplifting the lives of every Muntinlupenos.