TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte Gov. Jericho “Icot” Petilla said that with the approval of the 2005 annual budget by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, he could proceed with his programs and projects that would redound to the benefit of the people of the province.

At this developed, Board Member Evangeline Esperas said that the approved P760 million budget of the province for this year was ‘enough for us to deliver the basic services to the people.”

“I expect to fulfill some of the programs identified within (the budget). We are on the maximization of our resources,” the governor told Leyte Samar Daily Express.

The P760 million 2005 budget of the province was approved without cuts by the members of the provincial board last Tuesday during their regular session.

Among the priorities of his administration includes the improvement of the province’s agriculture sector, including the needed infrastructures; massive promotion on tourism and delivery of the basic services to the people of the province.

But it was learned from the governor himself that out of the P760 million budgets, P40 million remains to be a ‘projected” income.

The P40 million would be taken from the projected income from our hospitals and sand and gravel fees,” Petilla explained.

It could be recalled that Petilla is pushing for all the hospitals maintained by the provincial government not only to be service-oriented but also generate income.

The governor had openly complained that all of these hospitals were in the red. As a corrective measure, he instituted some reforms starting off at the Western Leyte District Hospital in Baybay which was just earning close to P1 million a year with a more than P70 million budget annually.

Petilla had announced that in just two months of reforms he instituted, there was a big turn around on the finances of the said hospital.

The governor had also intensified in the collection of fees and taxes on the sand and gravel activity ion the province. A special task force was created by him whose members were given the authority to arrest those who are engaging in the illegal activity of san and gravel in Leyte.

Meantime, Board Member Evangeline Esperas in a separate interview with Express said that with the approval of P760 million budgets, there is now an assurance for the province to provide the people the services that they are expecting from the provincial leaders.

“I would to say that the budget is sufficient enough for us to deliver the basic services to our people,” Esperas said.

She also said that the P40 million projected income of the province could realized considering the intensified efforts initiated by the administration of Gov. Petilla.

“I am very optimistic that we can realize this projected income. The governor had launched some programs in intensifying the collection of taxes, including tax on royalties,’ Esperas told Express.

With a higher income generated from these local incomes, she added, “the dependence of the province on its internal revenue allotment would be lessened.”

“This is actually the target of the governor,” Esperas added.