CAMARINES Sur has joined an elite group of the country’s biggest local revenue earners, emerging second on the top-10 list of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BGLF) of local government performers in 2023.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, a former governor of the province, made the disclosure, citing the BLGF’s Memorandum Circular 017-202 which showed that his was the second best local government performer last year in terms of local revenue collection.
It was the first time that the province landed on the Top 10 list over the past five years, as posted on the BLGF website.
The BLGF, an attached agency of the Department of Finance, is in charge of supervising and enhancing the financial operations of local government units nationwide.
“The dramatic jump in the local revenue earnings of CamSur has propped up its position as the premier economic performer of Bicolandia,” said Villafuerte, who had served as CamSur governor for three successive terms prior to his election to the House of Representatives.
He traced this performance in revenue collection to the “culture of entrepreneurship” that has been fostered in the province—as a way to further attract investments, create jobs and stimulate business activities—under the leadership of the Villafuertes.
BLGF’s MC 017-202 dated August 19, indicates that the “Top 10” local revenue earners in 2023 were Negros Occidental, Camarines Sur, North Cotabato, Nueva Viscaya, Misamis Occidental, Zambales, Palawan, Nueva Ecija, Sorsogon, and Davao Oriental.
Villafuerte explained that local revenues generated by Camarines Sur’s information technology (IT) park and new coconut processing plant along with its multitude of educational institutions and medical facilities have helped boost the local revenue collections of the provincial government under incumbent Gov. Vincenzo Renato Luigi Villafuerte.
With 46 universities and colleges, Camarines Sur boasts being one of the provinces with the biggest number of higher educational institutions in the country.
As for hospitals, among the major medical facilities in the province are the Bicol Regional General Hospital and Geriatric Medical Center in Cabusao, CamSur Provincial Medical Center in Bula, Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative of CamSur in Nabua, Sipocot District Hospital in Sipocot, Ragay District Hospital in Ragay, Caramoan Municipal Hospital in Caramoan, Tinambak Municipal Hospital in Tinambak, Siruma Municipal Hospital in Siruma and the Department of Health-CamSur Treatment and Rehabilitation Center in San Fernando.
The CamSur Information Technology Park meanwhile, is the first IT Park in Bicol declared by the Philippine Export Zone Authority as a special economic zone under Presidential Proclamation 850 issued in May 2005.
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