SEN. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Finance panel, on Tuesday sponsored in plenary the P5.268-trillion national budget for 2023, which he said had considered the usual budget priorities plus new risks from global and local headwinds despite the huge fiscal challenge.
As in past years, said Angara, the general appropriations bill from the House, as initially vetted by the Senate committees, embodied priority allocations for the so-called “4 Ps” – population, presyo or the continuing challenge of inflation, proyekto or the vital government projects, and personnel services or the huge bureaucratic payroll.
But in addition, he said, the 2023 budget wrestled with three more “Ps”– or “pandemic, Putin and Paeng” — referring to new fiscal requirements for continuing recovery from Covid’s impact on economic sectors, the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the huge tabs for damage caused by tropical storm Paeng.
After Angara’s sponsorship speech, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda delivered her cosponsorship, endorsing the proposed 2023 budgets of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which includes Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
“The past two years have been challenging for many of us. The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to an unprecedented level of societal disruption,” she said, noting that the world “was faced with enforced lockdowns, restricted movements, and a prohibition on traveling. With the global economy at a standstill, industries were devastated, and millions of jobs were lost.”
“As of November 7, 2022, the virus has affected more than 4 million individuals and claimed the lives of more than 64,000. The country’s poverty incidence also rose to 23.7 percent in the first half of 2021 from 21.1 percent in the same period of 2018. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by the worst contraction of GDP since World War II, falling by 9.5” in 2020,” Legarda said.
The subcommittee report, she explained, aims to promote security and build back better by assessing measures that focus on potential targets for stimulus spending that may offer near-term benefits in terms of job creation and long-term outcomes for sustainability and resilience.
For the DOLE, which includes the Tesda, the Legarda-led subcommittee recommended a 2023 budget of P49.223 billion.
The subcommittee submitted the 2023 budget of the DFA at P20.48 billion, an additional P181.48 million from the P20.30 billion proposed budget in the GAB.
Senator Pia S. Cayetano, senior vice chairperson of the Finance committee, endorsed the budgets of the (a) Department of Health and its attached agencies and corporations; (b) Department of Education and its attached agencies; (c) Commission on Higher Education; (d) State Universities and Colleges; (e) Cultural Agencies; and (f) the Development Academy of the Philippines.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go also co-sponsored the proposed 2023 General Appropriations Bill. Go thanked Finance Committee chairman Angara and Senator Cayetano for increases in the budget of the Department of Health (DOH).
“As chairman of the Committee on Health, I commend the inclusion of additional budget for the expansion and strengthening of epidemiology and surveillance systems of the Department of Health. I also thank our colleagues for supporting the additional budget for the Cancer Assistance Fund. I also note the additional funds given for the hiring of immunization vaccinators to strengthen the immunization activities of the DOH to prevent potential outbreaks of various vaccine-preventable diseases. I also laud the additional budgets for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program and the Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients program,” Go said.
The senator also lauded the additional budget for the Overseas Filipino Workers Hospital, new appropriations for the Department of Migrant Workers, and additional budget for the National Academy of Sports.
“Lastly, Mr. President, as the sponsor of the budget of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Games and Amusements Board, I also want to commend the Committee on Finance and our colleagues for supporting and adopting the increases in the budget of our sports programs,” he added.