Duterte wants savings in 2020 budget ID’d

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has directed all agencies to identify savings from their respective appropriations under the 2020 general appropriations act (GAA), also known as the national budget, as the government seeks additional funds for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic expenses.

Administrative Order No. 41, signed by Duterte on Wednesday, recognizes the need to intensify government-wide response and recovery measures, including various forms of socioeconomic relief and assistance to those affected by the imposition of stricter levels of community quarantine.

“Departments, agencies, bureaus, and offices of the national government are hereby directed to identify portions or balances of their released appropriations under the FY 2020 GAA that may be declared as savings, particularly those which have not been obligated as a result of the completion, final discontinuance or abandonment of programs, activities, or projects (P/A/Ps) for which the appropriations are authorized, or those corresponding to P/A/Ps which have not been obligated as a result of the implementation of measures resulting in improved systems and efficiencies and thus enabled an agency to meet and deliver the required or planned targets, programs, and services at a lesser cost,” the AO read.

Under the AO, a report on such identified portions of balances of released appropriations, duly certified by the head of the agency and the budget and finance officers concerned, shall be submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) within 15 days from the effectivity of this order.

The certified report shall include the specific P/A/Ps of the identified portions or balances of the released appropriations that may be declared as savings.

AO 41 also requires the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to promptly determine and recommend to the President the amounts that can be declared as savings under the FY2020 GAA, with due consideration to the extension of the availability of appropriations until Dec. 31, 2021, and actual deficiencies in any existing item of appropriation under the same GAA that need to augment including, if necessary, items of appropriation for the provision of emergency subsidies to low-income households and disadvantaged or displaced workers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The DBM may also issue supplemental guidelines for the effective implementation of the AO.

To recall, Duterte signed Proclamation No. 1021 in September 2020 to extend the period of the state of calamity throughout the country to Sept. 12, 2021, and enjoin government agencies to render full assistance to and cooperation with each other and mobilize necessary resources to undertake critical disaster response aid and measures in a timely manner, to curtail and eliminate the threat of Covid-19.

He said the extension would allow the national government, as well as local government units (LGUs), to continue using the “appropriate funds, including the Quick Response Fund, in their disaster preparedness and response efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, monitor and control prices of basic necessities and prime commodities, and provide basic services to the affected populations”.

Under the proclamation, all government agencies and LGUs are enjoined to cooperate and mobilize the necessary resources to “undertake critical, urgent, and appropriate disaster response aid and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the threat of Covid-19.”

Amid some lawmakers’ push for the passage of a Bayanihan to Arise As One Act or Bayanihan 3, Malacañang has repeatedly ensured that the country still has available funds taken from the national budget to help Filipinos affected by the ongoing health crisis.

The proposed Bayanihan to Arise As One bill (Bayanihan 3) earmarks PHP420 billion for the Covid-19 response and recovery interventions grounded on economic inclusivity and collective growth.