Tuesday, September lO 2019
Budget. . .
House panel apProves
tr-trillion national
P4"
budgetbillfor 2020
HE House Committee on
Appropriations aPProved
on Monday the committee
report on the P4.1-tri11ion General
Appropriations Bill.
House Bil14228,whichseeks to aP
propriate funds for the operation of
ihe governmentof the Republic of the
Philippinesf rom Januaryl to Decem-
6er 31, 2020, willnowbe transmitted
to the plenaryfor deliberations.
House Committee onAPProPria
tions Chairman lsidro Ungab said
CAB is a laitblul" coPYofrhe Na
tional Expend.rure Program sub-
mitted by the Palace. Accordingto
lJngab. no c\a nges or a mendments
have been made in the NEP.
Ungab said the Panel completed
in "record time" the hearings on
the 2020 budget ProPosals of ali
gove rnmen r depr rrmenLs, agen. ie'
and offices.
For his part. house CorLmir
tee on ApproPriations Senior Vice
Chairman JoeY Salceda said the
budget bill reflects the national
goals particularlY for Providing
, safe and, orrrorlable life {or all
becoming an upPer middle income
couttry by 2022, and securing an
"A' credit rating bY 2022.
"!Ve want to aPProve a budget
thatreally serves ourpeople, sell'es
our constituencies, and of course,
\\ +po4h PAge,
reflects the values of our country,"
Salceda added.
Ungab saidthe sPonsorshiP and
start of floor deliberations on HB
4228 are scheduled on TuesdaY.
He added that the House is stick
ingto its originaltarget date to pass
the proposednationalbudget, which
is before the Octobet 4 recess'
The 2020 budget ofP4.1tri11ion,
whichis cash based,is11 8percent
more than the 2019 budget and
will constitute 19.4 percent of the
country's gross domestic Product
Social services will receive the
largest chunk of the budget with
P1.5 trillion ora 37.2 percentshare,
followed by economic services,
whichwillreceive P1.18 trillion or a
28.9-percent share Nleanwhile, the
general pub-ic 'ervices rr'ill receivc
P734.5 billion; debt burden P451
biliion; and defense P195.6 billion.
Fiscaldeficit
IN the 2020 national budget, the
government maintains a manage
able deficit of 3.2 Percent of GDP
' to enable a declining debt burden.
!or next year, the government
will su.lai- che momentum ol
ing rer . nue .oLIe. rion bv pu'. r , rg
the ComPrehensive Tax Reform
Program (CTRP).
SEE "BoDcET," Ag
CoNTINUED PRoMAI
The qoverhment revenue (0lledions are
expected t0 reach P3.536 trillion in 2020,
fr9urethatis12.3 peKenthigherthanthisyear's
a
targeted level 0f P3.1 trillion. This will fund
83.9 pel(ent 0f programmed disbursenents
f0r 2020.
illeanwhil€, the total gross b0rr0wings f0r
2020amountto P1.4trillion. Witha b0rrowing
m ix poliry of 75:25 in favor 0fdomesticiou rces,
P1.047 trilli0n will be s0urced locallyand the
rest, P351.2 billion, will come from abrba{.,
ofthe total gross b0rrowings, P677.6 billi0n
willfinan(e the defidt, whid is equivalentt0
3.2 percent ofGDP
l4eanwhile, the top 10 agendes to get the
biqgest allo(ations next year are: Department
0fEducati0n, P673 billi0n; Department of Public
W0rkand Highwayt P534billi0n; D€partment0f
the lntedorand LoelGovernment, P238 billion;
Department of Social Welfare and 0evelopment
Pl95 billion; Department 0f National Defense,
P189 billi0n; Department 0f Health, P166.5
billi0n; Department 0f lranspo(ation, P147
billi0n; Depanment 0f Agriculture, P56.8 billion,
the Judiciary P38.7 billion and Department 0f
Invir0nmentand Natural Res0urces,P26.4billi0n.
Priority measires
THE 2020 NEP will also finan(e the
implementati0n of priority measures 0f the
administration.
Am0ng the critkal programs are measures
t0implementnewlawsandp0liciesthatprovide
ec0n0 mic a nd socia I asJistan ce t0 a ll tilipin0s,
and enhan(e the se(urity 0fthe nati0n, such
asthe: full implementation of the Universal
Health (are A(t, institutionalizati0n 0f !he
ri'-
Pantawid Pamilyang PilipinoProgram,smobth
transition to the Bangsam0r0 Auton0mous
Region in Muslim Mindana0, implementation
oftheRiceTrade Liberalizati0n Ad, fieati0n of
the Department for Human Settlements and
Urban Developmen! and Nationallask F0rce
t0 End [0(al Communist Armed C0nflid.
The government said the UH( program
is all0cated P166.5 billion; and the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipin0 Pr0gram (4Ps) A(t,
P108.8 billi0n. Pursuant t0 the Eangsamoro
0rgani( LaW P70.6 billion is allocated for
theBangsam0r0Auton0m0usRegi0ninMuslim
Mindanao (BARMM).
Republic Act 11203, 0r the Rice lrade
Liberalization Act, mandates the fieati0n of the
P10-billi0n Rke C0mpetitiveness Enhan(ement
Fund (RCEF). Following the enactment 0f RA
i 1 20 1, 0rthe Department0fHuma n 5ettlements
and Urban Devel0pment (DH5uD)Ad, the 2020
budgetallo(atesan am0unt0f P641.6milli0nt0
supportthe initial 0perati0ns0f the department.
loveeM iell, Dehfuuz