Councilor Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz announced on Tuesday that Davao City has been debt-free for seven years already.
The chairperson of the Committee of Finance, Ways and Means, and Appropriations and Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry said this greatly helped the coffers of the city government of Davao.
“Mapasalamaton ta kay naka support gyud ni sa atoang finances nga ang Davao City, we are debt-free, wala’y utang ang atong syudad for a period of seven years. Kay kung naa ta’y utang dako ang makaltas sa atoang panudlanan. Mubayad ta sa principal amount sa atoang utang. Ang atoang last borrowing from the bank was dugay dugay na to siya. Mao nang dako gihapon ug naga increase ang atoang expected revenue,” she said during Aprubado sa Konseho media briefing.
Ortiz said barely a month and a half before the year ends, the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) will still have to collect from all revenue-generating agencies.
She said that the CTO assured that by the year ending with the actual collection, the city’s actual revenue will exceed the expected revenue for 2024.
Ortiz also said the city’s budget for 2025 will be P14.3 billion, which is 12% higher from 2024’s P12.6 billion budget.
Meanwhile, the City Council has approved on second reading on Tuesday an “ordinance granting legislative authority to Supplemental Budget (SB) No. 3 of the city government of Davao for calendar year 2024.”
Proposed by Ortiz, SB No. 3 amounts to P433,928,192.87.
Ortiz said the bulk of SB No. 3 is the development fund amounting to P357,075,711.87, which represents 82.3% of the total supplemental appropriations.
“Development funds for infrastructure, projects, and programs that were pushed to the City Mayor’s Office and must be implemented to address the needs of the Dabawenyos,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz added that the second largest allocation is for the general fund proper with a total of P76,852,481.
Ortiz mentioned that SB No.3 of the city government of Davao for CY 2024 is funded from two sources namely surplus from CY 2023 operations and the reversion of appropriations.
“Pag muingon gani ta ug surplus the funds are readily available,” she said.
