Over 80 provincial officials, legislative staff, and Provincial Board (PB) Secretariat members are set to travel to Madridejos, Bantayan Island on Sunday, June 21, 2026, for the 17th PB’s first out-of-town session scheduled for Monday, June 22.
In a phone interview on Thursday, June 18, Vice Governor Glenn Soco confirmed that the delegation includes all 19 board members, the PB secretary, secretariat staff, and three staff members assigned to each official.
Budget Guidelines
When asked about the specific budget allocations for the out-of-town session, Soco explained that individual office travel allocations will cover standard trip expenses. However, any funding overages must be paid from personal accounts.
“They can charge their expenses on their respective budgets in their offices,” Soco said. “Anything in excess of that, they will have to pay under their personal account,” he added.
Soco emphasized that the travel expenses of board members, secretariat personnel, and his own office are standard line items within their operational budgets. “Under our respective offices, there is an allocation for travel that covers the out-of-town trips,” he said. “But the staff, they are already paid for under salaries and wages in their respective offices.”
Session Delays
This out-of-town trip marks the first such session for the 17th PB. The vice governor noted that internal procedural rules require the body to conduct out-of-town sessions once every quarter, but successive regional calamities and states of emergency delayed the program’s implementation.
“Actually, it’s provided for in some internal rules of procedure that we are to conduct an out-of-town session once every quarter,” Soco said. “However, because of the calamities that we have experienced, the state of emergency that has been declared, so this is our demo until now. This will be the first for the 17th.”
Community Outreach
Soco stated that the location was chosen to help the body connect with local residents. “We chose Madridejos because it’s considered to be the northernmost municipality of the province, and that is really the intention of this out-of-town session,” he said. “So, we can touch base with the local community.”
The delegation will travel to the island on Sunday to conduct an outreach program and a sponsored mass in Bantayan. The official legislative session begins at 1 p.m. on Monday at the Madridejos Municipal Hall, following a morning parliamentary training seminar for local town and youth leaders.
