FOLLOWING the urgent certification from President Duterte, the House of Representatives was expected to approve both on second and third reading the House Bill 10153 or the proposed 2022 General Appropriations Act on Thursday.
This after the House of Representatives received late Wednesday a message from Duterte certifying House Bill 10153 as urgent, thus requesting its immediate approval.
The President, in a letter addressed to Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, stressed the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the fiscal year.
Duterte also emphasized expeditious funding of various programs, projects, and activities for next year and ensured budgetary preparedness to enable the government to perform its constitutional mandate effectively.
With this certification from the Palace, House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Eric Go Yap said the 2022 national budget will be approved on final reading within Thursday.
Congress dispenses with the three-day rule for passage of a measure when a certification is issued. The budget bill will be immediately transmitted to the Senate.
Congress will go on a break starting October 1 to November 7 as candidates for all national and local positions are expected to file their certificates of candidacy.
With the theme, “Sustaining the Legacy of Real Change for Future Generations,” the P5.024-trillion NEP for 2022 is equivalent to 22.8 percent of gross domestic product [GDP] and is higher by 11.5 percent than this year’s national budget.
For 2022, the government expects to generate P3.290 trillion in total revenues, representing 14.9 percent of the GDP.
Deficit as a share of GDP will reach 7.5 percent in 2022, lower than the 9.3 percent of GDP program this year.
According to the Department of Budget and Management [DBM], the 2022 national budget was carefully crafted to provide funding to support the country’s resilience against the Covid-19 pandemic, to sustain the trajectory of economic growth, and to continue the legacy of infrastructure development.
The DBM said bulk of the budget—P1.456 trillion or 29.0 percent of the FY 2022 NEP—will go to Personnel Services expenditures for hiring of health-care workers and teaching personnel, the implementation of the third tranche of the Salary Standardization Law V, and the requirements of the 2018 Military and Uniformed Personnel pension arrears, among others.
Capital Outlays are pegged at P939.8 billion while Maintenance and Other Operating Expenditures, P777.9 billion next year, it said.
The agency said debt burden amounts to P541.3 billion, which corners 10.8 percent of the 2022 NEP and is lower by 3.4 percent year-on-year.
Image credits: Robinson Ninal Jr./Malacañang Presidential Photographers Division via AP
