MAYOR Atty. Arturo “Jed” Piollo II minced no words of expressing his mind for good when he said that people of Lila should not depend so much on “ayuda” (financial assistance) from the government.
This he told Lila officials and people during the official oath-taking rites of the newly and reelected officials of the town, including Vice-Mayor Regina Salazar and the municipal councilors at the gym, where the mayor pushed his State of the Municipal address (SOMA).
He said he had wished that the Lila people who depend so much on Pantawid ng Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) would soon be free from the bondage of mendicancy. He added that he’d like to see those who graduated from the 4Ps. It means that they can now stand on their own and it’s no shame, either.
To be mendicant, as if he’s short of saying beggar is no different of being reliant much to the government financial aid.
In his SOMA, Mayor Piollo poured all that his administration had accomplished from social services, including health, agriculture, education and infrastructure.
His power point presentation showed that the annual budget of the town, which aims to be a 3rd class town from 4th, has gone up from a mere P65,302,42.10 in 2019 up to P158,670,115.66 for 2026.
It increases exponentially after he took the reign of the municipality. The budget of Php 72,648,479.55 in 2020; Php 77,916,244.08 in 2021; Php 103,559,307.13 in 2022; Php 90,458,451.00 in 2023; Php 116,248,623.00 in 2024; and Php 141,058,566.45 in 2025 are accomplished with the cooperation of other officials.
One of the municipality’s sources of revenues is the local taxes plus the National Tax Allotment (NTA, formerly Internal Revenue Allotment).
In 2019, the town sourced out from its local taxes the amount of Php 5,345,925.11; Php 5,744,604.60 in 2020; Php 5,419,170.01 in 2021; and Php 7,012,419.60 in 2022.
From 2022, the local taxes grew up to Php 32,954,093.43 in 2023; and Php 46,300,733.19 in 2024.
Data from this year (2025) have yet to be available since it’s till halfway of the year.
The mayor’s presentation also showed consistency in receiving awards that the town may pride of for its accountability and transparency efforts. (rvo)
