PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday signed into law Republic Act No. 10964, or the P3.767-trillion General Appropriations Act for 2018, the second under his administration.
The Philippines’ largest budget to date, which is 12.4 percent higher than the 2017 national budget and 25.5 percent higher than the 2016 budget—amounts to 21.6 percent of GDP.
It will support the government’s objectives of achieving robust and inclusive growth of 7 to 8 percent in 2018.
“The 2018 General Appropriations Act, which is 12 percent higher than last year’s budget, will primarily support infrastructure development and free education in state universities and colleges, universal health care, free irrigation,” Duterte said of the budget set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
The budget, Duterte said, is a fulfillment of his campaign promise of “doubling the basic pay of our soldiers and police officers.”
“This will also fulfill my campaign promise of doubling the basic pay of our soldiers and police officers, which will take effect on the very first day of 2018,” Duterte said in his speech at the signing ceremony on the two laws.
“Two laws that I signed today are the fulfillment of my campaign promise to institute genuine fiscal reform that will be felt by every Filipino,” he added.
Under the 2018 GAA, social services remain to have the biggest chunk of the budget pie with 41.8 percent, followed by economic services with 33.8 percent, then general public services with 19.2 percent, and debt burden with 9.4 percent, and defense allocation with 4.7 percent.
Education continues to have the lion’s share of the budget, with an allocation of P699.95-billion for next year—with the Education Department getting a P553.31 billion budget next year.
Chalk or cash allowances of teachers—intended for the purchase of classroom supplies like chalk, markers, paper, erasers and other materials—will increase from P2,500 to P3,500.
State Universities and Colleges were earmarked P62.12 billion—along with a P40-billion increase in funding for free college education in all SUCs, local universities and colleges, and state-run technical-vocational institutions, following the implementation of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.
An additional P10 million for capital outlay of each SUC was approved to purchase equipment and improve facilities within their campuses, while P250 million funding under CHED was also allocated for free tuition for medical students enrolled in SUCs.
To address the country’s inadequate infrastructure, the budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways will be increased to P637.86 billion, 16.93 percent higher than its allocation last year.
As regards the health sector, the Health Department will be getting P171.09 billion next year to continually fund the Universal Healthcare Program under Philippine Health Insurance Corp., providing healthcare services in all government hospitals.
Some P3.5 billion will be allocated for PhilHealth Plus to provide for the health insurance of government employees under the executive department.
The DoH budget was also increased by 2.85 percent to provide additional funding for Medical Assistance Program for indigent patients, additional medicine for cancer patients, and Health Facilities Enhancement Program, among others.
A special provision was also included to prohibit the purchase of Dengue vaccines.
Defense as well as peace and order spending were likewise increased under the 2018 GAA, with the Interior Department getting a P170.7 billion budget, with the Defense Department getting P149.69 billion—which provides P62.8 billion for the increase of base pay of military and uniformed personnel.
Since the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency will now lead the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, additional P1.2 billion was allocated to the agency to help expand its operations and construction of regional/provincial offices.
Meanwhile, the P900 million and P500 million under the DILG’s Oplan Double Barrel and MASA MASID, respectively, were realigned in favor of the P1.35 billion additional funding for the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines Housing Program; while P50 million was earmarked as additional budget for acquisition of body cameras of police officers. Total budget for the acquisition of body cameras of police officers is P334 million.
Under the DILG budget, P100 million was earmarked for closed circuit television, P451 million for the purchase of two helicopters, and P70 million additional funding under the Internal Affairs Service to ensure that they have sufficient funds to conduct their investigation on erring policemen.
An additional P300 million was also allocated under the Bureau of Corrections for additional prison facilities.
Internal Revenue Allotment or IRA, meanwhile, is at P58.4 billion.
To improve social services, the DSWD will be getting P141.81 billion—including P89 billion for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and P2.080 billion for the rehabilitation of social welfare and activity centers and Bahay Pagasa juvenile detention centers.
For the agriculture sector, farmers will continue to receive government support through the subsidy of irrigation service fees being paid by farmers to the National Irrigation Administration.
The DA also has P2.669 billion for the construction, restoration or improvement of small-scale irrigation projects and P4.281 billion for the construction of facilities and procurement of agricultural machineries and equipment.
The Transportation Department will be getting P70.9 billion for the construction of transport infrastructure such as railways, seaports, airports and road networks and other projects under the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” program of the Duterte administration.
Under the budget of the DOF, P1.493 billion was allocated for the purchase of x-ray machines and a special provision was introduced to expand custom inspection to include bulk inspection and containerized cargo.
The Environment Department, meanwhile, will be getting P24.9 billion, down from the proposed P27.9 billion to cover the National Greening Program of the Administration.
To support the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises, there is additional funding worth P800 million under the Department of Trade and Industry’s P5.86 billion budget next year.
To ensure quick recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City, P10 billion was allocated for such purpose under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
Unpaid pension the government owes to surviving spouses of World War II veterans will now be fully paid under the 2018 budget with the allocation of P1.647 billion for the payment of total administrative disability arrears.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs will receive an increase of P783 million for additional funding of existing consular offices and embassies, opening of new consulates, cultural diplomacy programs, training programs, and hazard pay of DFA employees in hardship posts, among others.
Congress will be getting a P18.21 billion budget for next year, while the Judiciary will be spending P34.36 billion by 2018.
The Office of the President will be getting 70-percent decrease from its record-high expenses in the past year at P6.03 billion, while the Office of the Vice President gets the least budget at P543 million, despite a P20 million increase.
Some P354 billion, meanwhile, will be allocated for debt servicing.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier said the Duterte administration will be consistent in strengthening Congress’ power of the purse.