P350-M Fund to Raise New Bohol Provincial Capitol

(DBM) — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released an initial P350 million to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the construction of the new Bohol Provincial Capitol, chargeable against the FY 2014 Supplemental Appropriations, consistent with the Aquino administration’s policy of the building back better,

The previous Bohol Provincial Capitol had been damaged by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in October 2013, and it had been deemed dangerous for use afterward. The proposed five-story provincial capitol building will be built on their new site in Cogon, Tagbilaran City.

“The plan to build a new Bohol Provincial Capitol building is being done under the Administration’s Build Back Better policy. But we’re also committed to continue rehabilitation projects in provinces that had been badly hit by natural calamities in the past years,” Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said

The proposal to build the new provincial capitol building had been included in the Bohol Earthquake Rehabilitation Plan and endorsed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) Full Council to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) last December 2013.

Abad said, “In order to restore the delivery of public services in the province, the proposed Bohol Provincial Capitol required the appropriate budgetary support. Fortunately, the 2014 Supplemental Budget was crucial in helping us appropriate funds for priority projects like these and this will be for the ultimate benefit of Filipinos in the area.”

The fund for the Bohol Provincial Capitol was part of the P22.47-billion Supplemental Budget, which was passed last December 2014. Aside from the provincial capitol building, the Supplemental Budget also funded the following projects: the building of fishports, lighthouses, and seawalls by the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA); the implementation of the North Triangle Relocation Plan by the National Housing Authority (NHA) that benefited informal settler families (ISFs); and the Operational Transformation Plan of the Philippine National Police (PNP). (DBM)