Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara on Tuesday sponsored the Committee Report 10 on House Bill 4488 or the General Appropriations Bill which contained the proposed P5.268-trillion National Expenditure Program for 2023 in the Senate plenary.
Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, said the maiden budget of the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is aligned with the direction he wants to pursue.
“The President has made it clear in his message to us that every peso that he seeks to spend in 2023 is aligned with his administration’s thrusts,” he said in his sponsorship speech.
“And what are these? Boost growth. Cut poverty. Trim the deficit. Pare debt. And catapult us to the league of upper-middle-income nations,” he added.
He noted that aside from gross domestic product growth, forecast oil prices, inflation, peso-dollar exchange, and interest rates that shape the contours of the budget, he also considered the 4Ps in budgeting such as population; prices of commodities; infrastructure projects; and payroll.
Likewise, the senator mentioned other factors such as macropolitical and other exigent conditions that could also cause tectonic shifts in the country’s fiscal position.
“Some like calamities, manmade and natural, often but in the middle of the budget season unannounced, leaving bills which put a squeeze into an already tight budget,” he said.
“For next year, I call these the three other Ps — Pandemic, Putin and ‘Paeng,’” he added.
‘Automatic appropriations’
Angara said of the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2023, P1.5979 trillion is considered as automatic appropriations, while P4.259 trillion will cover the P3.671 trillion new programmed appropriations and P588 billion unprogrammed appropriations.
Among the big-ticket projects under the NEP is Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program; the “Build, Better, More” program; Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education; and Tulong Trabaho Fund.
The lawmaker said that strengthening the country’s healthcare system, economic recovery, and institutional capacity were also taken into consideration in the proposed budget.
Citing food security as one of the foremost priorities of the administration, Angara said the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation and the Department of Agrarian Reform, will receive in total up to P179.762B, marking a 39.5-percent increase from the agricultural sector’s 2022 allocation.
“Significant funding remains for the DA’s National Programs for Rice, Corn, High-value Crops Development, Organic Agriculture, Livestock, and Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture,” he said.
“To fill in the logistical gaps in our food systems nationwide, the committee has affirmed the government’s funding for Farm-to-Market Road projects,” he added.
The senator said the funding for these projects will be released directly to the Department of Public Works and Highways to fast-track the process of constructing, rehabilitating, and repairing the FMRs in the DA’s network plan.
Likewise, there will be an allocation for social protection projects such as 4Ps; Protective Services for Individuals and Families in Difficult Circumstances; and Assistance to Communities in Need.
‘Increased appropriations for Quick Response Funds’
Angara also ensured that the committee report includes an increase in the appropriations proposed for the Quick Response Funds of the DA-OSec, DepEd-Osec, DoH-Osec, Bureau of Fire and Protection, the Philippine National Police, the DND-Office of Civil Defense, DPWH-Osec and the DSWD-OSec.
“We have also assured the resources devoted to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund or NDRRMF. This includes the appropriations for the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Fund,” he said.
‘GAB aligns fully with MTFF’
Angara said that the General Appropriations Bill containing the P5.268 trillion proposed national budget for 2023 is fully aligned with the administration’s Medium-Term Fiscal Framework or MTFF.
“Naturally, the National Expenditure Program follows the MTFF closely — with the President writing his budget message that the budget his government has proposed for next year will usher in an economic transformation towards inclusivity and sustainability,” he stressed.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives earlier adopted the administration’s proposed MTFF which aims to sustain the country’s strong post-pandemic economic recovery and support accelerated growth.
“It will be a great abdication of its duty if the Senate will be impervious to these developments and fails to adjust spending and implement other meritorious corrections in a manner that is fiscally responsible. And an executive branch that ignores these, and insists on its original submission, only bares its inability to comprehend reality,” Angara said.