A congressional leader on Monday urged fellow legislators to support the swift passage of the proposed P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, which is focused on reviving the coronavirus-hit economy.
“We need to act fast, scrutinize carefully and make the necessary improvements to what would probably be one of the most important national budgets in the country’s recent history,” Deputy Majority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera said in response to the commitment of the House leadership to pass the money measure on final reading by end of September.
Herrera also cited the need for House members to actively participate in the budget deliberations, which will begin on September 4 at the committee level.
“Now, more than ever, Congress must diligently, effectively and expeditiously do its most basic job: pass a budget and fund the government,” Herrera said.
“This year, Congress is faced with an all-important task of ensuring that the 2021 national budget would serve as a powerful tool to defeat COVID-19, build long-term resilience and support economic recovery,” she added.
Herrera also underscored the need for Congress to pass a national budget that will sustain government efforts to safeguard the health and lives of Filipinos and to tackle the economic challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This ongoing public health crisis constitutes an unprecedented challenge with very severe socio-economic consequences,” Herrera said.
“We in Congress are committed to do everything necessary to help the government meet this challenge by coming up with a national budget that is inclusive and responsive to the needs of Filipinos in these trying times.”
The 2021 national budget, which is higher than this year’s P4.1 trillion, is geared toward further improving the health care system, ensuring food security, hastening government’s digital transformation, and helping communities to rebound.
On September 4, the House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap will start the budget hearings with a briefing by members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee.
But as this developed, a militant partylist organization said that the proposed 2021 proposed budget shows skewed priorities of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and its refusal to implement adequate medical solutions.
ACT Teachers Party-List, thru Assistant Minority Leader and Rep. France Castro and president Antonio Tinio, said the proposed 4.5 trillion budget is a militarist budget and gives little priority to funding social services for the people.
“Nothing was reset, the economy will not rebound and the people will not recover with the Duterte administration’s 2021 proposed budget,” Castro said, countering the administration’s catchwords for the 2021 budget bill, “reset, rebound, recover.”
“The proposed budget continues the Duterte tradition of giving a higher priority on funding the military and infrastructure development instead of giving more funding for health, education and other social services the people are in dire need amid this pandemic,” Castro said.
“Wala halos pinagbago mula sa mga nakaraang national budget ng bansa ang panukalang national budget para sa taong 2021 na para bang wala nang kinakaharap na pandemiya at matinding krisis pang-ekonomiya ang bansa,” Castro added.
“Matindi pa, lagpas 2000% ang itinaas sa budget ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict na wala namang ibang ginawa kundi takutin, tatakan ang mga aktibista at ordinaryong mamamayan bilang ‘terorista’ at ‘rebelde’ na nagdudulot ng pagpatay sa kanila,” she said.
“The 2021 proposed national budget still does not provide budget for a comprehensive and systematic medical solution for the pandemic. A chunk of the budget increase in the Department of Health went to the corruption filled PhilHealth, P71.4 billion of the P203.1 billion budget for the Universal Health Care, instead of putting the funds directly to hospitals and other health facilities,” Castro added.
“Also, while the budget for education seems to have the highest priority, the Duterte administration does not provide enough budget for adapting to the flexible and blended learning modes by only budgeting for 944.4 million learning modules, not providing teachers additional allowances for internet, removing their Teachers’ Day incentive and still not funding the long-denied free annual medical check-up and treatment benefit of teachers as mandated by the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers,” she said.
“Now more than ever, the Duterte administration must ensure adequate funds for a systematic and comprehensive medical solution paired with socio-economic aid for the Filipino people to reset, rebound and recover from its own negligence and incompetence. The proposed 2021 budget continues the skewed priorities in the handling of a pandemic which would only lead to more hardship for the Filipino people,” Castro said.
For his part, Tinio said the proposed 2021 budget still rejects national industrialization and genuine agrarian and provides little priority to food security, industry and livelihood of the Filipino people.
“In times when millions of Filipino poor are hungry and almost half of the Filipino workforce have no jobs, the Duterte administration still prioritizes its Build, Build, Build program with a budget of P1.107 trillion that only cater the needs of foreign investors,takes away funding from much needed infrastructure for social services, while providing ample opportunity for large-scale corruption,” said Tinio.
“Budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development remains a dole-out budget while budget for education and health remain inadequate. The Duterte administration is screwing with the Filipino people with its skewed budget priorities,” Tinio added.