DBM to release P59 million for BTA members' salary: Palace
Malacanang said on Tuesday the government will release P59 million for the salary of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority ( BTA).
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the Department of Budget and Management would release the fund for the salary of 82 BTA members for July to December 2019.
This was discussed during the Cabinet meeting, which President Rodrigo Duterte presided on Monday night.
"The Cabinet also discussed the delay of release of BTA funds because of the reenacted budget," Panelo said.
Duterte only signed the 2019 budget in April after the Senate and the House of Representatives broke an impasse.
In the same Cabinet meeting, Panelo said Duterte and the Cabinet approved the Boracay Medium-Term Action Plan which will sustain the government's efforts after the island's closure last year.
Quoting National Economic and Development Authority Director General and Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and Undersecretary Adoracion Navarro, he said there are four themes of the action plan for Boracay.
These include enforcement of laws where there will be intervention on the regulation of visitors and hotel accommodations; prevention where there will be interventions on the sewerage infrastructure, solid and liquid waste management; rehabilitation and recovery of ecosystems; and sustainability of activities in the island such as improvement of roads and public health infrastructure, construction of permanent housing program for indigenous people and education facilities.
Boracay underwent a six-month massive rehabilitation last year after Duterte likened it to a "cesspool." Celerina Monte/DMS
