AUG 14, 2016

NR # 4292

DBM submission of P3.35T proposed 2017 national budget

to pave way for start of budget hearings on Aug. 22
The chairman of the House committee on appropriations is looking forward to the
Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submission on Monday of the first national
budget proposal of President Rodrigo Dutertes administration, amounting to P3.35-trillion for
2017. it would pave the way for the start of the House budget hearings on government priority
projects and programs next year.
Rep. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles (1 st District, Davao City) said the subsequent budget
hearings, which are set to start August 22, will allow House members to scrutinize each and
every department and agency of the government on what they intend to do in order to effect the
change that the President wants to bring in to the new administration.
Being the first budget of President Duterte, we will immediately get a glimpse of the
priority projects and programs that he wants his administration to focus on to actualize the
change that the President wants to bring in to this new administration., said Nograles.
Budget and Management Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said the budgets for 2017
until 2022 will support the Presidents promise to improve the countrys infrastructure, invest in
human resources, modernize agriculture and rural development, and develop lagging regions.
The DBM also said For Fiscal Year 2017, the Development Budget Coordination
Committee (DBCC) will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte a total obligation budget of
P3.35 trillion to be proposed to Congress.
The 2017 budget is higher by 11.6 percent than the current years budget of P3.002
trillion. As a percentage of GDP, the 2017 budget represents 20.4 percent compared this years
20.1 percent of GDP according to the DBM.
Nograles said he and Diokno held a meeting last week to discuss the components of the
2017 national budget proposal and how to ensure its prompt passage this year.
Secretary Diokno and I have agreed that we must work to pass a budget that would be
responsive to the needs of the people. We also agreed that there will be no re-enacted budget,
said Nograles.
Nograles maintained the House is ready to work overtime to finish the budget hearings
and approve it on plenary on time.
We are pressed for time. Kami naman mga Kongresista kung kailangang pagpuyatan,
nagpupuyat naman kami. Wala namang problema sa overtime, wala naman pong problema kung
kailangang pagpuyatan yan, ready naman kami. Weve always shown to the Filipino people that
when the times call for it, when we need to step up, when we need to work overtime, we do it.
Ginagawa naman po namin, said Nograles.

As to the budget hearings procedure under the 17th Congress, Nograles said there are no
expected changes to it. "It would be the same process as before, which House members have
been used to. It will be easier, faster, its more efficient that way. So no major changes in terms of
procedure, said Nograles.
He said he expects the House of Representatives to be supportive in creating and
legislating a budget that will respond to the needs of his fellow Filipinos.
He urged anew everyone to help each other during the entire budget process to avoid
delays and a budget reenactment.
Nograles expressed optimism the 125-member appropriations committee will be fully
organized this coming week so the panel can already start the budget hearings by Aug. 22 and
pass it before the year ends.
Hopefully by Aug. 22, we can already start our hearings on the national budget.
Hopefully by that time, weve been fully organized in the Committee on Appropriations. We have
an assurance from the House leadership that it will prioritize our committee organization because
of time constraints. Time is of the essence. We do not want a reenacted budget. Priority po kami
dahil priority ang budget, said Nograles.
In submitting the budget proposal to House leaders led by Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez
and Nograles, Diokno is expected to highlight once again the observation that for too long, public
infrastructure has been neglected.
Diokno has previously noted that as a result of this neglect, the countrys economy is
deficient in all types of infrastructureroads and bridges, ports and airports, railways and urban
transit systems, irrigation systems and water systems. To address this, he said the government
will hike infrastructure spending from a low 5% to a high of 7% of GDP.
According to him, the government plans to spend close to P900 billion next year for public
infrastructure. Specific infrastructure projects to be pursued by the Duterte government include
small, medium and large-scale projects that will be done in all regions both highly developed
and laggingsimultaneously, not sequentially according to Diokno.
The next six years will be The Golden Age of Philippine construction, both public and
private, said Diokno during his speech last July 20, 2016 before the Financial Executives of the
Philippines 6th General Membership Meeting held at Fairmont Hotel.
In terms of social services, among the Duterte administrations priorities according to
Diokno are the following : education, with P118B for the construction of school buildings, which
is 44% higher compared to its FY 2016 budget. The budget of the Department of Education
(DepEd) will be more than half a trillion pesos; revisit the conditional cash transfer (CCT)
program, more popularly known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, with the intention
of minimizing the leakages and minimizing the programs administrative costs; and increase the
government subsidy for health insurance premium payments for indigent families amounting to
approximately P50B or a 15% increase over the 2016 budget. (30) rbb