Author: City Councilor Francisco M. Mendoza
Date Filed: July 6, 2026
This ordinance permanently amends all local ordinances containing fixed mandatory appropriation provisions, transitioning them into recommendatory guidelines within the city’s urban planning and fiscal framework. Operating as a budgetary reform initiative that sets citywide planning, investment programming, and budget prioritization as the sole determinants of financial allocations, this program eliminates fiscal rigidity and budget silos through structured civic compliance. The system pairs municipal leadership with local offices, special bodies, and stakeholder networks to prevent inefficient resource allocation, laying down distinct abolition rules for local mandates, continued observance of nationally mandated appropriations, mainstreaming criteria, and progressive fund monitoring.
Highlights of the Ordinance
- ABOLITION OF LOCAL MANDATORY APPROPRIATIONS: Amends all local ordinances requiring predetermined amounts or percentages of the city’s annual budget for specific sectors, turning them from mandatory to recommendatory to improve fiscal planning.
- PLANNING-LED BUDGET PRIORITIZATION: Mandates that departments and special bodies handling previous mandatory appropriations actively participate in the regular budgeting cycle, aligning proposals with the Annual Investment Program (AIP).
- PRESERVATION OF NATIONALLY MANDATED FUNDS: Ensures budgetary allocations expressly mandated by national laws—such as the Local Development Fund, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and GAD plans—continue to be strictly observed.
- MAINSTREAMING SECTORAL PROGRAMS: Continues funding for programs supporting senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), children, and solo parents through attribution or mainstreaming as permitted by their governing laws.
- PROTECTING THE PEOPLE’S COUNCIL INDEPENDENCE: Retains the fixed percentage allocation equivalent to 1.25% of the Local Development Fund specifically for the Naga City People’s Council to safeguard its fiscal independence.
- Proposed