SECOND District Board Member Salvador Escalante said on Tuesday, August 15, that the Province of Negros Occidental is expected to have a P3.3-billion annual budget for 2018.
Escalante who chairs the committee on appropriations, budget and finance said that Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. is expected to submit the budget proposal to the Provincial Board next month.
This year’s annual provincial budget is P3.2 billion.
Unega meeting
Escalante said their political party, United Negros Alliance (Unega), headed by the governor will meet on August 25.
It would be known by then who would be interested to run for governor and vice governor in 2019, he said.
Former Fourth District Representative Jeffrey Ferrer, who was Marañon’s running mate in the 2016 elections, is among those considered to run for governor, and he will be definitely get the support of Unega, Escalante added.
“The governor also wants me to run for vice governor so most likely we will discuss that during the meeting,” he said.
Escalante said that his first option would be to go back as mayor of Cadiz City because his brother, incumbent Mayor Patrick Escalante, will end his term in 2019.
