The chairman of the Senate Finance committee vowed Sunday to pass next year’s P4.1 trillion budget before Congress adjourns for the Christmas break to avoid last year’s deadlock that slowed down economic growth.
Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate finance panel, said he would sponsor the committee report on the budget Monday on the Senate floor so that plenary debates could begin.
He added that the Senate is on track to sending the general appropriations bill to the desk of the President for signature by the third week of December at the latest.
Emphasizing the importance of passing the spending plan on time, Angara said the country paid a price for the delay in this year’s budget in terms of a slower growth in gross domestic product (GDP).
The budget delay also stalled construction and repair of thousands of classrooms and delayed the payment of tuition of thousands of government scholars across the country, Angara said.
He recalled the country was on the brink of missing its growth target for the year because of the delay in the approval of the 2019 national budget but as a result of the aggressive catch-up spending implemented by some key agencies, the economy grew by 6.2 percent and is on pace to hit its full-year target of 6 percent to 7 percent.
“The experience has only underscored that for us to maintain our country’s momentum and upward trajectory, we can afford no more delays, especially when public spending can account for up to 20 percent of the entire economy,” Angara said.
As in previous years and as mandated by the Constitution, education will continue to take the biggest chunk of the allocations.
Angara said the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will be given the necessary budgetary support to ensure the students’ needs are met and the roadblocks to their uninterrupted studies are removed.
The same goes with health, the demands of which continue to grow as the population increases and with the government committed to provide all Filipinos with free health insurance coverage under the Universal Health Care Act.
Improving and expanding the existing modes of public transport is one of the more critical programs of the administration. To complete as many of these at the soonest possible time, Angara said Congress will ensure they are covered by the necessary funding.