SPEAKER Martin Romualdez yesterday announced that the House of Representatives has introduced institutional amendments worth P77.5 billion to the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023 to augment the budget for health, education, transportation, and other critical social services.
Romualdez said that during the period of amendments preceding the approval of the 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) last week, the Lower House “augmented the budget of frontline agencies tasked to address the current economic, health, energy and environmental crises that burden millions of Filipinos.”
Rep. Elizalde Co (PL, Ako Bicol), chairman of the House committee on appropriations, said his committee “endeavored to free up appropriations from agencies whose funds are unlikely to be fully utilized within 2023, based on historical performance or specific circumstances of their spending program.”
“Hindi madali ang desisyong ito, ngunit ‘di rin makatwirang matulog ang pondo habang napakaraming pangangailangan ang milyun-milyong pamilyang Pilipino habang bumabangon ang bansa mula sa pandemya (This decision wasn’t easy but it’s also unjustifiable for these funds to stay idle in the face of the needs of millions of Filipino families who are trying to recover from the effects of the pandemic),” Co said.
Co explained that bulk of the additional allocations introduced by the House came from deductions in programs and projects with budgets that “may be allocated in succeeding fiscal years,” one of which is the P50 billion deducted from the Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) proposed budget for the Metro Manila Subway Project and North-South Railway Commuter for year 2023.
“The idea is to allocate more budget for pro-people programs and projects without the need of imposing new taxes. One thing is sure: all major infrastructure projects will proceed as scheduled based on a timetable that is implementable for 2023,” Co said.
The largest among the proposed realignments is the P20.25 billion for various programs of the Department of Health such as medical assistance for indigent patients (P13 billion), allowances for healthcare and non-healthcare workers and frontliners (P5 billion), additional funding for the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, National Kidney and Transplant Institute and Philippine Children’s Medical Center Health (P2 billion or P500 million each); 10 dialysis assistance centers throughout the Philippines (P270 million or P27 million each), cancer assistance program (P250 million), and P500 million for the University of the Philippines-PGH (Philippine General Hospital) after P893 million was slashed from its proposed budget.
The House also allocated an additional P10 billion for the Department of Education’s school building/classroom construction and P581 million for the special education programs (SPED); P10 billion for the Department of Public Works and Highways to construct water systems in underserved upland barangays, P12.5 billion for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) assistance to individuals in crisis situations, P5 billion to upgrade senior citizens’ pension through the National Commission of Senior Citizens, and P2.5 billion for the DSWD’s sustainable livelihood program.
There was also a P5.5 billion allocation for DOTr programs to address the rising cost of fuel like the fuel subsidy program, Libreng Sakay and bike lane construction; P5 billion for the training and scholarship programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, P5 billion for the Commission on Higher Education’s Tulong Dunong Program, P5 billion for the livelihood and emergency employment programs of the Department of Labor and Employment, P1.5 billion for the national broadband project of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, P500 million for the Commission on Elections’ new building, P300 million for the PNPN to train law enforcement officers to be conducted by the Department of Justice and the National Prosecution Service, P250 million for the Department of Trade and Industry to assist the creative industry pursuant to Republic Act No. 11904, P150 million for the Energy Regulatory Commission, P147 million for the Office of the Solicitor General, and P50 million for the National Electrification Administration’s barangay and sitio electrification program.
Romualdez lauded the House of Representatives, especially Co and appropriations panel senior vice chair Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, “for the budget’s swift passage on third reading and for acting expeditiously, yet cautiously, on the proposed amendments.”
“I’m pleased that the House-approved version of the General Appropriations Bill responds to the most urgent needs of Filipinos. We need to ensure that social services are sufficient for the greater good of our countrymen, especially those in dire need of basic social services to survive,” the Speaker said.
