House OKs P8.9-B ARMM budget for 2007
The P8.9-billion proposed budget of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for FY-2007 was unanimously approved by the House Committee on Appropriations in a budget hearing on September 19, 2006.

Members of the Committee, led by Chairman Joey S. Salceda, promptly endorsed and approved the ARMM proposed budget for FY-2007 in view of the priority thrusts of the regional government.

ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, who led the justification of the proposed budget of the region, got the unanimous support of the members of the Committee in the effort of the regional government to implement programs and projects designed to improve the dismal socio-economic and peace condition in the region.

The efficient handling of the regional government of the problems that were faced by the DepEd-ARMM, particularly on its GSIS remittance, was also acknowledged by the Committee.

AKBAYAN Representative Mario Aguja congratulated Ampatuan for the on-time remittance of the GSIS contributions of teachers.

Furthermore, he filed a motion calling for the allotment of P310-million to pay for the unpaid GSIS premiums of teachers in the region.

Throughout the hearing, Ampatuan repeatedly called for the support of the members of the Lower House in finding the means to immediately address the socio-economic problems of the region, which remain at a worse condition compared to other regions in the country.

The proposed budget is 8% higher than the present budget of the region. However, only about 15% of the total proposed budget would be going to be utilized for strategic thrusts, a big bulk of it, around 60%, is allotted for personnel service and around 22% for MOOE.

Majority of the members of the Appropriations Committee likewise recognizes this shortcoming and said that they would be supporting initiatives that would move for the additional increase of the region’s annual budget.

“ARMM is actually in need of a bigger budget to augment crucial socio-economic projects that cannot be adequately supported under this proposed budget, which was endorsed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),” Ampatuan said. (BPI-ARMM)