Marathon deliberations start

By Wendell Vigilia

LAWMAKERS will have their hands full starting today as the House of Representatives is set to begin marathon deliberations on Malacañang’s P6.352-trillion proposed national budget for 2025.

Four members of the President’s economic team, who comprise the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), will brief lawmakers this morning in the House plenary on the state of the country’s economy and macro-economic assumptions used in drawing up the national expenditure program (NEP).

The four are Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona Jr.

The Speaker said he and his colleagues would like to know from the administration’s economic managers “how the country could sustain its economic growth and how such growth could benefit our people.”

“Our economic expansion, projected by multi-lateral financial institutions at between 5.9-6.2 percent next year, should be felt by our people, especially the poor, in terms of more job and income opportunities, more affordable food on their table and lower consumer prices,” he said.

Romualdez said many who consider themselves poor complain that economic development is benefitting only the rich, the big companies, and stock and financial market investors.

This is why, he said, he would like to see increased allocations for these services and pro-poor programs.

“They (poor people) say they cannot eat economic growth. If majority of our people do not feel our economic expansion, they should at least see it in terms of the proper use of the national budget for social services, education, health, infrastructure, and direct financial assistance to the poor and other vulnerable sectors,” he said.

While Romualdez said he does not expect to get all the pertinent information from resource persons today, he warned all agency heads who will be asked to attend the hearings “they should better be prepared when it is their turn to face us.”

The 2025 budget, which is intended to support the administration in attaining economic and social transformation and guided by the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028, is equivalent to 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

The new budget proposal reflects a 10.1 percent increase from this year’s P5.768 trillion budget.

Per sector, education remains the top priority with an allocation of P977.6 billion followed by public works with P900 billion and health with P297.6 billion. Next is interior and local government with P278.4 billion and national defense, which was earmarked P256.1 billion “to uphold national security, modernize defense capabilities, and ensure the safety and sovereignty of the nation” in light of China’s illegal incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

Social welfare was allocated P230.1 billion, agriculture with P211.3 billion and transportation with P180.9 billion, the Judiciary P63.6 billion, and the Department of Justice, P40.6 billion.

On Tuesday, officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) will brief the committee on appropriations on their operations, followed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will be on deck on Wednesday.

It will be the turn of the Department of Energy, Commission on Higher Education and Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday.

The appropriations committee will hold the hearings on each agency’s proposed budget until September 9 to allow the House to approve the budget proposal before Congress goes on recess later next month.