Angara vows timely passage of P4.5T nat'l budget for 2021

Senator Sonny Angara on Monday committed that the upper chamber will diligently work on passing the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021 as soon as Malacañang submits the National Expenditure Program to Congress.

"We don’t want a repeat of 2019 when government had to operate on a reenacted 2018 national budget for five months, which led to serious delays in the implementation of key programs and projects and slower GDP growth," he said in a statement.

The government relied on a re-enacted budget in the first four months of 2019 after Congress failed to pass the General Appropriations Act before 2018 ended due to alleged anomalous insertions in the spending bill.

Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, said delayed approvals of the national budget force various government agencies to implement projects within a shorter period of time.

"We end up with inefficiencies in the utilization of funds and this is a disservice to the people who want to see that their taxes are being put to good use," he said.

"This is especially important now that we are still grappling with a pandemic and we need to implement key programs to address its impacts."

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Sunday announced that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for Fiscal Year 2021. It comes with the theme: "Reset, Rebound and Recover: Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability.

The DBM said it is finalizing the 2021 National expenditure Program and other budget documents to be submitted to Congress before the 30-day Constitutional deadline.

Angara underscored that the proposed budget for 2021 is 9.9% higher than this year’s budget and is equivalent to 21.8% of GDP.

Expectations

The proposed budget is expected to contain programs that will stimulate economic recovery while further strengthening the healthcare system, according to Angara.

“We want to see more support for our ailing industries and businesses such as tourism and the micro, small and medium enterprises, almost all of which were forced into dormancy during the government-imposed lockdowns,” he said.

Further, Angara said the government must invest in the right infrastructures to strengthen internet connectivity in the country.

"We have to accelerate our efforts to connect our communities no matter how remote they are because under the new normal, connectivity is of utmost importance. Our educational system depends on this now that distance learning is the norm," he said.

Bayanihan 2 bicam

Meanwhile, Angara said the bicameral conference for the passage of the proposed Bayanihan to Recover as One Act will not be affected by the two-week lockdown in the Senate.

"We can do it virtually since Senate has elected conferees. We are just waiting for House to pass and to elect it's conferees then we can meet to discuss— which can be done online," he said.

"Ratification of the bicam report is another thing. That may require some physical presence however brief," he added.

The Senate's version of the Bayanihan 2, principally sponsored by Angara, features a P140-billion economic stimulus budget which aims to resuscitate the bogged down industries in the country. —KBK, GMA News