Mayor Khymer Olaso on Monday, October 27, signs into law, Ordinance 764 or the Fiscal Year 2026 Annual Budget amounting to P7,064,797,612, the first full-year budget under his administration.
Also signed into law was Ordinance 765 or the Plantilla Ordinance which identifies/ creates the different plantilla positions under the City Government for FY 2026.
The passage of the budget and plantilla ordinances was one of the fastest and earliest date that a local budget has been signed.
The signing ceremonies took place at the City Hall conference room in the presence of Vice Mayor Beng Climaco and members of the City Council and Finance Committee. After the signing of the budget ordinance, the same will be returned to the City Council for endorsement to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for review and final approval for it to become operative.
The 2026 Annual Budget is 14.42% higher than last year’s budget of over P6.1 billion due to the increase in both the total revenue and national tax allotment (NTA), formerly known as the Internal Revenue Allotment.
Mayor Olaso highlighted that the 2026 budget was carefully designed with inputs from the concerned departments and agencies with the goal of addressing the pressing needs of the constituents.
Key priorities of the budget are health, education, employment generation, youth and sports development, environmental conservation efforts and programs, peace and order, disaster preparedness and response, agricultural and food security, animal welfare, social services, tourism and cultural preservation, good governance and infrastructure.
The social services sector is still the largest beneficiary of the budget with a significant share of 50.65% at P3.578 billion, followed by General Services sector with a share of 28.90% at P2.041 billion and economic services with a share of 20.45% at P1.444 billion.
Sources of funds include NTA at 83.69% (P5,912,732,612.00); local taxes at 16.08% (P1,136,280,000); national wealth and economic zones at .08% (P5,500,000) each; PCSO share at .04% (P2,500,000) and reversion at .03% (P2,285,000). (Sheila Covarrubias)
Source: City Government of Zamboanga