Both houses of Congress worked extra hours on Tuesday to ratify the proposed P3.7-trillion national budget for 2018.
House and Senate separately gave their final nod to the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA) on Tuesday night.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles of Davao City, in a statement, said the proposed P3.767-trillion GAA for 2018 will be ready for President’s Duterte’s signature before Christmas, following its ratification by Congress.
Nograles said both Houses of Congress quickly ratified the proposed GAA on the same day it was approved by the bicameral conference committee. “This was achieved after two weeks of painstaking deliberations by congressmen and senators who sought to harmonize the differing provisions of their respective versions of the proposed national budget for next year,” he said.
Nograles added the proposed national budget will be signed into law on or before December 19. “President Rodrigo Duterte can proudly affix his signature to this measure on December 19 following its ratification,” he said.
Nograles added the education sector is set to receive big bulk of the 2018 national budget.
These are the provision of an additional P1,000 cash allowance for public-school teachers from the current P2,500 to P3,500 (budget allocation: P770 million) and the increase of at least P10 million each for all state universities and colleges (SUCs) across the board for capital outlays to be used in the repair, rehabilitation, construction of academic buildings and the purchase of equipment, among others (P3.7 billion).
Also, for the education sector are the rollout of the free college education program under Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act (P40 billion) to cover the free tuition and miscellaneous fees for college students in all SUCs nationwide.
The 2018 budget will also ensure the implementation of free Wi-fi for all SUCs amounting to P327 million.
An additional P62 billion was set aside for the increase of military and uniformed personnel’s base pay beginning January 1, 2018. House Joint Resolution 18, which bears this effect, was approved on third and final reading on Monday, December 11.
“This will double the basic pay of both the Police Officer 1 and Private from P14,834 per month to P29,668 per month. The funding requirement for this is already included in the 2018 general appropriations bill,” Nograles said.
For the other ranks, the raise in base pay will be calibrated resulting to an average increase of 58.70 percent.
Also, provided under the 2018 budget is the purchase of body cameras for Philippine National Police (PNP) members amounting to P334 million (up from the initial allocation of P100 million); acquisition of two single-engine helicopters with a funding of P451 million; housing for PNP, Armed Forces of the Philippines members worth P952 million (up from the realigned P900-million Oplan Double Barrel fund); and the increase of police stations’ funds by adding P850 million to their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.
According to Nograles, included in the budget is the P3.5-billion subsidization under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. budget for the cost of healthcare benefits of government employees in the Executive branch.
The other agencies with the highest budgetary allocations are: the Department of Public Works and Highways; the Department of Interior and Local Government; the Department of Health; the Department of National Defense; the Department of Social Welfare and Development; the Department of Transportation; the Department of Agriculture; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.