Angara: Senate guarantees new laws funded under 2020 national budget

The Senate has guaranteed that new laws signed by President Rodrigo Duterte will be given appropriations in the P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020, Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara said in a statement on Saturday.

Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said laws would be "useless" if they are not given the funding needed for their implementation.

Newly-signed laws include the Republic Act 11194 or the "Conservation of the Gabaldon School Buildings Act," which was signed by Duterte last January.

The Senate provided P616 million for the implementation of the law under the committee report on the 2020 General Appropriations Bill, which would be lodged under the budget of the Department of Education.

According to Angara, the DepEd received P2.06 billion for the implementation of RA 11194 for 2019, but the Executive only gave the agency a mere P383.9 million on the proposed 2020 national budget.

“These structures are considered part of Filipino heritage. They represent the roots of the public school system in the country. We must strive to preserve these buildings for the next generations to see and appreciate,” Angara said.

Around 3,000 Gabaldon school buildings were constructed during the American occupation in the 1900s, but there are now a little over 1,400 of the structures left due to years of neglect, decay and demolition.

The 2020 national budget would also have an allocation of P1 billion for the implementation of Republic Act 11230 or the "Tulong Trabaho Act," signed on February this year.

Under the law, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will provide free access to Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) particularly to out-of-school youth and the unemployed.

Angara added that funding for the Republic Act 11459 or the Judges-at-Large Act would be provided for the creation of 50 new judges-at-large positions— 30 in the regional trial courts and 20 in the metropolitan trial courts.

Its allocation will be part of the P2.5 billion added to the budget of the judiciary.

"Justice delayed is justice denied so when we introduced this measure in the 17th Congress, our aim was to help clear up the court dockets by providing more judges to hear the cases," Angara said, who is also the principal author of the law.

Likewise, the Senate made an allotment to the National Economic and Development Authority for the establishment of an Innovation Fund as mandated by Republic Act 11293 or the "Philippine Innovation Act."

Meanwhile, funding for the implementation of Republic Act 11036 or the 'Mental Health Act," signed on June 2018, will see the establishment of a mental health hotline in the budget of the Department of Health.

“This is in response to the statement made by Dr. Cornelio Banaag Jr., professor emeritus of the UP College of Medicine and who is considered as the father of Philippine child psychiatry, that there is a looming mental health crisis among Filipino children,” Angara said. —Jamil Santaos/LBG, GMA News