Velasco signs 2021 budget bill ahead of submission to Duterte

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has signed the final copy of the proposed 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) outlining a P4.5-trillion national budget for next year prior to submission to President Rodrigo Duterte.

House Committee on Appropriations chair Eric Yap posted a photo on Instagram showing Velasco signing the 2021 budget bill, witnessed by him and House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza.

LOOK: Speaker Lord Velasco signs printed copies of the proposed 2021 General Appropriations Act, according to House appro chair Eric Yap.

Photos from Rep. Eric Yap’s Instagram @gmanews pic.twitter.com/Y6BA5IfFH3

— Erwin Colcol (@erwincolcol) December 17, 2020

The signatures of Velasco and Senate President Vicente Sotto III are needed before the budget bill can be submitted to the President for his signature.

According to Yap, the 2021 GAA is set to be submitted to the President on Friday.

Velasco said the 2021 national budget is the government’s “single-most powerful tool” to address the COVID-19 pandemic and help Filiponos and the economy recover from its impact.

Included in the final version of the 2021 budget bill are P72.5 billion in regular and unprogrammed funds for COVID-19 vaccine procurement, storage, and distribution in 2021.

Around P23 billion has also been realigned for the rehabilitation of communities affected by the recent strong typhoons that hit the country.

In terms of allocation per sector, the education sector still received the biggest chunk of the appropriations for next year, at P708.2 billion.

This is followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways, with P694.8 billion.

Yap earlier said that for infrastructure projects that may take longer time to complete, the funding for them were transferred for now to other priority programs such as the enhancement of hospital facilities and equipment to further capacitate the government's COVID-19 response.

Despite this, the health sector only ranked third among the sectors with the biggest allocation for next year, with P287.47 billion.

The remaining agencies in the top 10 list are:
Department of the Interior and Local Government (P247.51 billion)
Department of National Defense (P205.47 billion)
Department of Social Welfare and Development (P176.66 billion)
Department of Transportation (P87.45 billion)
Department of Agriculture (P68.62 billion)
The Judiciary (P44.11 billion)
Department of Labor and Employment (P36.61 billion)
—LDF, GMA News