House begins deliberations on proposed P5.268-T nat’l budget for 2023

The House of Representatives on Friday kicked off the deliberations on the proposed P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023.

Officials from the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) attended the hearing to brief the members of the House appropriations committee about the Marcos administration’s national expenditure plan, which was submitted to Congress on Monday.

The DBCC is composed of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Department of Finance (DOF), and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In her presentation, Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the proposed budget for 2023 was crafted based on and in support of the Marcos administration’s eight-point socioeconomic agenda.

She said the proposed budget aims to address the immediate and pressing concerns of all Filipinos in the near and medium-term.

“The administration’s first full-year budget shall serve as a springboard for the economy’s full-speed recovery and meaningful structural reform,” Pangandaman said.

The proposed budget's first pillar, which aims to increase Filipinos' purchasing power, addresses the first three items on the eight-point agenda: food security, improved transportation, and affordable and clean energy.

To ensure food security, Pangandaman said the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) banner programs will receive a larger share in 2023, including a doubled allocation for the National Rice Program to P30.55 billion, up from this year’s P15.77 billion.

To sustain the administration’s continued push for infrastructure development, she said that the “Build Better More” program was allocated a total of P1.20 trillion, equivalent to 5% of the gross domestic product (GDP), for road, rail, transport, and flood control infrastructure projects.

The bulk of the infrastructure budget will go to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), with P272.87 billion, which will be used to finance an efficient transport and logistics system for goods and services, and to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), with P167.12 billion for the establishment of an efficient and reliable mass public transportation system.

The DBM chief said the crafting of the budget took into consideration the commitment to a reliable and secure mix of energy resources through the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Renewable Energy Development Program which will get P145.21 million, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program which will receive a P252.35-million allocation, and the Alternative Fuels and Technologies Program, which will have P78.86 million.

The DOE’s Renewable Energy Development Program will have a total allocation of P476 million, to be complemented by the continuation of the National Electrification Administration’s (NEA) Sitio Electrification Project with a proposed budget of P1.63 billion.

Amid the expected continuing elevated cost of fuel, Pangandaman said the budget for the DA’s Fuel Assistance for Farmers and Fisherfolk will be doubled to P1 billion.

Of this amount, P510.45 million will be for corn farmers while the remaining P489.55 million will be for fishermen.

In addition, P2.50 billion is allocated for the DOTr’s Fuel Subsidy Program for the transport sector affected by the rising fuel prices.

“The government will be providing around P206.50 billion of 'ayuda' composed of the cash transfers and other subsidy programs by various agencies,” Pangandaman said.

She added that the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will receive a higher allocation of P115.61 billion for education and health grants, as well as rice subsidies for 4.4 million households.

“This is 7.3% higher compared to this year’s P107.67 billion, which will be used to support the improvement of data validation for the Listahanan 3 and thus ensure a better beneficiary targeting system,” she said.

The education sector still has the highest allocation at P852.8 billion and covers the Department of Education (DepEd), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

To strengthen the healthcare system, the Department of Health (DOH) will be allocated a total of P23 billion for its Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) to provide access to healthcare services through the construction, rehabilitation, and upgrading of health facilities and the purchase of medical equipment, among its other programs.

“In support of the administration’s thrust for a lean, efficient, and responsive government workforce, the budget will facilitate the transformation and digitalization of the government to streamline the bureaucracy,” the Budget chief said.

Pangandaman said some P12.47 billion of the budget will be provided for ICT and digitalization programs and projects of the government.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) will receive P4.72 billion for its ICT Systems and Infrastructure Development, Management, and Advisory Program.

To enable accurate and timely provision of social services, the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) will receive an allocation of P2.06 billion, according to Pangandaman.

She said that P28.88 billion will be allocated for the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), which is P10.91 billion higher than the P17.97 billion appropriated in 2022.

The LGSF is on top of the P820.27-billion National Tax Allotment (NTA) that the LGUs will receive in 2023, following the Mandanas-Garcia Supreme Court ruling, according to the Budget chief.

BSP Governor Felipe Medalla and NEDA Director General Arsenio Balisacan presented the DBCC’s macroeconomic and growth assumptions.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the government would focus on productive spending to stimulate growth.

He added that the economy only needs to grow by 5.2% to 7.2% in the second half of 2022 to meet the full-year target of 6.5% to 7.5%.

“We are determined to pursue faster, greener, and more inclusive growth that will benefit all sectors. This goal is guided by the Marcos administration’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda,” Diokno said.

House appropriations panel chairperson Ako Bikol party-list Representative Elizaldy Co said that “the ball is now in the hands of the committee, whatever disposition we shall take.”

“We must act and work together to scrutinize every aspect of this budget to ensure that it is consistent with the socio-economic agenda of the President. We shall guarantee that every peso authorized in this budget is directed to address food security and inflation, reduce poverty, and provide the necessary stimulus for economic transformation,” the lawmaker said.

“Let’s work hard and work together to accomplish this task assigned to us by the Filipino people to ascertain their future prosperity and advancement,” Co added. —VBL, GMA News