FOLLOWING the changes in the leadership of the House of Representatives, the House Committee on Appropriations on Sunday said deliberations for the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 will begin as scheduled on Tuesday, July 31.
Among the first to be scrutinized by the appropriations panel are the proposed budgets of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), Department of Finance (DOF) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Also scheduled to be tackled by the House this week are the proposed budgets of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., Department of Agriculture, National Food Authority, National Irrigation Administration, Philippine Coconut Authority, Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority and Department of Agrarian Reform.
Under the proposed 2019 GAA, Education will remain a top priority of the Duterte administration with P659.3 billion, higher by P72.2 billion or 12.3 percent than its cash-based equivalent in the 2018 budget.
Other agencies with big allocations are the Departments of Public Works and Higways with P555.7 billion, Interior and Local Government with P225.6 billion, National Defense with P183.4 billion, Social Welfare and Development with P173.3 billion, Health with P141.4 billion, Transportation with P76.1 billion, Agriculture (DA) with P49.8 billion, the Judiciary with P37.3 billion and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) with P32.3 billion.
By sector allocation, Social Services accounts for 36.7 percent of the entire budget, reaching P1.377 trillion. This is followed by Economic Services (28.4 percent, P1.068 trillion), General Public Services (18.9 percent, P709.1 billion), Debt Burden (11.0 percent, P414.1 billion) and Defense (5.0 percent, P188.2 billion). Meanwhile, cash-based appropriations for infrastructure are set at P874.8 billion, equivalent to 4.5 percent of GDP.
By Expense Class, the P3.757 trillion cash-budget is divided as follows: Personnel Services (31.5 percent, P1.185 trillion), Capital Outlays (20.0 percent, P752.7 billion), Allotment to LGUs (17.1 percent, P640.6 billion), Maintenance Expenditures (15.0 percent, P562.9 billion), Debt Burden (11.0 percent, P414.1 billion), Support to GOCCs (5.0 percent, P187.1 billion), and Tax Expenditures (0.4 percent, P14.5 billion).
House Committee on Appropriation Chairman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of Davao has confirmed officially receiving Malacañang’s proposed National Expenditure Program (NEP) from Speaker Arroyo’s office. Submitted by the Palace to Congress last Monday, the NEP will serve as the basis for the 2019 GAA.
“As promised under Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the per-agency debates on the P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019 will start this week. The House recognizes the importance of the immediate passage of the national budget and we in the Appropriations panel are bent on approving the best possible General Appropriations Act [GAA] in a timely manner,” Nograles said.
“Now, we are poised to continue the streak of approving the budget on time, without any reenacted budget under President Duterte,” said Nograles. The proposed 2019 national budget is cash-based as opposed to traditional, multiyear obligations-based budgeting. The DBM has described it as the more efficient budgeting method since it limits incurring obligations and disbursing payments for goods delivered and services rendered, inspected and accepted within the fiscal year.
