House starts P4.1-T 2020 budget deliberations

FILE: Session hall of House of Representatives (Photo: House of Representatives of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA — The House of Representatives on Tuesday began plenary deliberations on the proposed PHP4.1 trillion budget for next year as embodied in House Bill 4228, or the General Appropriation Bill (GAB) for Fiscal Year 2020.

Next year’s proposed budget was sponsored on the floor by House Appropriations Committee chairman Isidro Ungab, who called on his colleagues to support its timely passage.

In his sponsorship speech of HB 4228, Ungab said the GAB is “a legislative measure so crucial” that no other matter is considered in detail other than how the income and revenues collected must be returned to the people through the national budget.

“That is what appropriations is all about – the flowing back of the revenues to our constituents in order to genuinely and effectively address poverty and inequality,” he said.

“As representatives of the people, from Batanes to Jolo, and as party-list representatives, we are accountable for every peso that is printed in the budget book,” Ungab said.

Even as the Davao City lawmaker said the 2020 GAB is a faithful replica of the National Expenditure Program (NEP) submitted by Malacañang to Congress, he reminded his colleagues that it does not necessarily mean that the appropriation measure has to embody President Rodrigo Duterte’s proposal “en toto.”

“Whether or not the appropriations bill remains the same in one part or another, as the President’s Budget earlier submitted, is a matter of Congressional discretion and exercise of the legislative power of the purse,” Ungab said.

He called on all House members to support the early passage of the 2020 budget, which he said the President has emphasized, is a legacy that “will fund the priority programs and projects of the government with the intent to raise the living standards of all Filipinos with a more secure, more equitable and more prosperous country.”

“As chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, I respectfully request the Honorable Members of the House of Representatives for their support in the early passage of the ‘People’s Budget,’ without sacrificing the objective scrutiny of all its provisions because this Representation believes in the value of the wisdom of each Member of this Chamber and of their contributions in ensuring that the General Appropriations Bill that we will pass is one that contains programs and services that our people truly value at amounts they believe are just, fair and appropriate,” he said.

“We should not forget that while it is expected of each of us to assert the needs of our respective congressional districts and party-list organizations, we are also expected, as leaders of our country, to see things in the broader national perspective,” Ungab said.

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr., meanwhile, assured that despite the “arduous and oftentimes tedious task” of scrutinizing the budget, the Minority bloc is “fully committed to passing the budget on time.”

“I would like to start by responding to my counterpart from the Majority, the distinguished gentleman from the 1st District of Leyte – Majority Leader Martin Romualdez – who last Sunday impressed upon us the importance of passing the budget on time, and appealed to the members of this august body to be professional and disciplined in the course of our deliberations, to ask relevant questions, and to keep within our allotted time in order to expedite the passage of the 2020 General Appropriations Bill,” he said.

“On behalf of the Minority, let me assure everyone here that we acknowledge that the timely passage of the budget is necessary to avoid delays in the delivery of services to our people and that we are aware that such delays can adversely affect our economy,” Abante said.

However, he said the Minority bloc also recognizes and embraces its responsibility to thoroughly assess and evaluate the details of the proposed NEP.

“The Minority believes that a proper examination of the budget is just as important as its prompt passage – especially if we want a national budget that is 100 percent pork-free, 100 percent waste-free, and 100 percent beneficial to our constituents. Our people, Mr. Speaker, deserve no less,” Abante said.

2020 budget

The proposed PHP4.1 trillion 2020 budget is 11.8 percent higher than the PHP3.662 trillion budget for 2019, constituting 19.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

It is the fourth annual budget submitted by the government under President Duterte and marks the beginning of the second half of his administration.

In his budget message, President Duterte said next year’s budget “will aim to build the fruits and gains of the previous annual expenditure programs of the administration, not only to ensure but to consolidate the gains, for the bright future of the Philippines and its people.”

“It is the financial program that will ensure that our nation stays the course and moves forward to its aspired for the destination,” the Chief Executive said.

“With this financial program, we aim to achieve the government’s growth targets through investments in priority programs, including infrastructure and social services, while adhering to fiscal sustainability,” Duterte said.

By sector, Social Services got the biggest allocation with PHP1.525 trillion (37.2 percent), followed by Economic services with a total allocation of PHP1.184 billion (28.9 percent).

Meanwhile, General Public Service got an allocation of PHP734.5 billion (18 percent), Debt Burden, which includes Net lending, got PHP451 billion (11 percent), and Defense getting PHP195.6 billion (4.8 percent).

By departments, the Department of Education (DepEd), including state universities and colleges (SUCs), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and TESDA, still got the highest allocation with PHP673 billion.

It was followed by the DPWH with PHP534.3 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) with PHP238 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) PHP195 billion; and Department of National Defense (DND) with PHP189 billion.

Rounding up the top 10 departments are the Departments of Health (DOH) with PHP166.5 billion; Transportation (DOTr) with PHP147 billion; Agriculture (DA) with PHP56.8 billion; the Judiciary with PHP38.7 billion; and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) with PHP26.4 billion.

Administration’s critical programs

Among the critical programs of the administration are measures to implement new laws and policies that provide economic and social assistance to all Filipinos, and enhance the security of the nation.

Among these are the full implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) law; institutionalization of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); smooth transition of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM); creation of the Department for Human Settlements and Urban Development (DSHUD); and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

In view of the full implementation of the UHC law, the program is allocated PHP166.5 billion, of which PHP67.4 billion is allocated for the National Health Insurance Program (PhilHealth).

Meanwhile, PHP9.5 billion is allocated for Human resources for health Deployment Program, PHP9.4 billion for Assistance to Indigent Patients, and PHP 5.9 billion for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program.

The 4Ps of the DSWD will get an allocation of PHP108.8 billion.

This will enable the government to increase the monthly grants to qualified households from PHP500 to PHP750 to accommodate the rise in prices.

The educational grants will increase from PHP500 to PHP700 for every child enrolled in senior high school.

Pursuant to the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), PHP70.6 billion is allocated to the Bangsamoro Automous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Of this amount, PHP63.6 billion is allocated for the annual block grant, PHP5 billion is for the special development fund, and PHP2 billion is for BARMM’s share in the national taxes.

Under the 2020 NEP, the newly-created DHSUD will get an allocation of PHP641.6 million for its initial operation.

The PHP 622.3 million is allocated for the (NTF-ELCAC), pursuant to Executive Order No. 70, s. 2018, or the Whole-of-Nation Approach in Attaining Inclusive and Sustainable Peace.

The NTF-ELCAC embodies the Duterte Administration’s serious commitment to pursuing sustainable peace through an ambitious and comprehensive development agenda to promote inclusivity by eliminating poverty, enhancing social equity, developing greater human capital, and improving physical infrastructure in less-developed and conflict-ridden regions of the country.

The Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), on the other hand, will get an allocation of PHP10 billion for 2020.

The RCEF was created under Republic Act 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, to provide assistance to rice farmers, cooperatives and associations who will be adversely affected by the influx of imported rice.

In infrastructure development, the Duterte government is allocating PHP972.5 billion for the “Build, Build Build” program in 2020, representing 4.6 percent of the GDP.

Of this amount, the DPWH will get PHP119.1 billion for its Network Development Program, PHP51.8 billion for Asset Preservation Program, and PHP32.9 billion for its Bridge program.

The DOTr will get PHP106.7 billion for Rail Transportation, PHP508 million for Sea Transportation, and PHP346 million for Air Transportation.