By Butch Fernandez & Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
A Senate-House of Representatives conference committee approved on Tuesday the final version of the P3.35-trillion 2017 national budget, meeting a self-imposed deadline for Congress to quickly pass the annual money measure and have it enacted into law before the year ends to avert government operating under a reenacted budget in January.
The House ratified the reconciled version late Tuesday. Ratification at the Senate is expected on Wednesday.
Sen. Loren B. Legarda, Senate Finance Committee chairman, said the 2017 budget bill will be transmitted to President Duterte for signing into law after ratification at both chambers.
Lawmakers foresee no further hitches in the early enactment of the money measure, saying this was crafted in accordance with the Duterte administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.
“We ensured that it funds the necessary services needed by our citizens, such as universal health care, free tuition for all in state universities and colleges [SUCs], and additional funds for social services,” Legarda said.
She added that lawmakers also agreed to allocate funds for “free irrigation, additional funds for prisoners’ subsistence allowance, pension for post-World War II veterans and centenarians, among others.”
The 2017 budget is higher by 11.6 percent than the current year’s budget of P3.002 trillion. As a percentage of GDP, the 2017 budget represents 20.4 percent compared to this year’s 20.1 percent of GDP.
The total revenue next year is expected to reach P2.48 trillion, or around 10 percent more than the government targeted to collect this year. It is equivalent to 15.6 percent of the GDP.
The national government budget deficit next year is expected at 3 percent of GDP, or P478.1 billion. This funding shortfall is funded through borrowings. The total borrowings in 2017 will reach P631.3 billion.
The GDP is expected to grow by 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent in 2017 through sustained expansion of the services and industry sectors, and the expected rebound of the agriculture sector.
Legarda reported that other highlights of the final version of the 2017 budget bill provides strong support for education with an additional P8-billion budget for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to ensure “all college students enrolled in any SUC in the country will not pay for their tuition fee.”
Legarda noted that the budget for state-run universities and colleges was also provided additional funds for scholarship and capital outlay for all SUCs; along with increased funding for the Department of Education (DepEd) projects for site development of public schools, as well as allocation to increase teachers’ cash or chalk allowance from P1,500 to P2,500 to purchase classroom supplies, like chalk, erasers and forms.
Legarda added under the 2017 budget, the government’s health-care program was granted P3-billion increase in the PhilHealth allocation “so that all Filipinos will now be covered by the universal health-care program, while indigent patients will not have to pay for anything in government hospitals under the No Balance Billing policy.”
At the same time, the bicameral panel, likewise, endorsed additional funds for the Department of Health (DOH) up to P1.521 billion for the Doctors to the Barrio program, construction of additional health facilities and medical assistance to indigent patients; as well as the P2.646 billion allocation for the establishment of DOH-Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers in regions which do not have such facility.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) also got P100 million to be granted to centenarians, on top of additional funding for the DSWD supplemental feeding program. “Moreover, all 4.4 million beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will now be entitled to a rice allowance in the form of cash grants, Legarda said.
The senator confirmed that P2 billion was also allocated in the National Irrigation Administration budget “to subsidize irrigation fees that farmers have long been shouldering.”
“For livelihood and microenterprises support, additional P1 billion is allocated under the Small Business Corp.,” Legarda added, “so it can provide loans at almost no interest to microenterprises,” even as additional funds were also provided for various programs of the Department of Labor and Employment, including employment facilitation and capacity-building services.
For the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, she reported that Congress approved funds for the Training for Work Scholarship Program/Livelihood, as well as Training Provision for Drug Dependents.
Legarda said the Department of Interior and Local Government was, likewise, provided with additional funds for training and equipment of firefighters, support to the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) fight against illegal drugs, increased subsistence allowance of prisoners and rehabilitation and construction of jail facilities.
She added that the Department of National Defense also got additional funding “to effectively defend the country from internal and external threats, as well as to fund programs, such as the repair of Veterans Center, expanded veterans hospitalization program and construction of cadet barracks.”
Moreover, the Senate-House panels also approved allocation for combat and incentive pay of the military and police worth P12.1 billion, as well as funding for the Capability Enhancement Program of the PNP.
For environment and resilience programs, Legarda said funds under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) were allocated for restoration of mangroves, which are effective buffers against storm surge and tsunami. In implementing the National Greening Program, the DENR should use planting materials that are responsive to the needs of the communities, such as fruit-bearing trees, bamboo, coconut trees, and trees that are important for traditional use and livelihood of indigenous peoples and local communities.
According to Legarda, “this is a pro-people budget—one that will be felt by those at the grassroots, as it prioritizes rural development and social services. But these funds must be spent judiciously and expeditiously.”
House Committee on Appropriations Chairman and National Unity Party Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles of Davao City said the ratification of the P3.35-trillion National Expenditure Program for 2017 was done despite disagreements on an item that was originally allocated by the House of Representatives to the Department of Public Works and Highways purposely for development projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
According to Nograles, the House contingent in the bicam agreed to accept the Senate’s position to allocate some P8.3 billion, which was originally allotted for development projects in the ARMM, to the CHED to remove the impasse on the budget and avoid further delays on its approval, noting the importance of pursuing the Duterte administration’s agenda for change.
“We are one with the position of President Duterte that we really need to develop Mindanao if we want to defeat the insurgency problem in the region, which is why we programmed infrastructure projects in Mindanao, including the ARMM. But some members of the Senate opined that this could be in violation of the ARMM Organic Act,” he said.
“This created some sort of deadlock as the House stood its ground since we saw nothing in the Organic Act of the ARMM that prohibits the national government from implementing infrastructure projects in ARMM, especially if identified in the medium-term development plan. In the end, we decided to give in just so that a budget is passed because we do not want a re-enacted budget,” Nograles added.