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Friday, March 29, 2024

Lawmakers seek OK of ’23 budget for gov’t agencies

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The House of Representatives committee on appropriations on Thursday batted for the approval of the 2023 budgets of the departments that look after the welfare of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), the homeless, workers, as well as micro-, small-, and medium-scale entrepreneurs.

“The budgets of the Departments of Migrant Workers; Housing, Settlement, and Urban Development; Labor and Employment; and Trade and Industry impact the most vulnerable members of Philippine society,” said Ako Bicol Rep. Elizaldy Co, chairperson of the House appropriations committee, told the panel during the budget hearing Thursday.

“OFWs, homeless Filipinos, workers, and MSMEs have been among the most affected by the pandemic. Their recovery will spell the recovery of the entire country,” Co added.

Co said the P14.970-billion budget for 2023 of the newly created DMW will address all aspects of migrant labor from deployment to compensation and working conditions to remittance to reintegration.

He said the DHSUD’s P3.951-billion budget for 2023 seeks to address the homelessness of Filipinos. It is broken down as follows: Office of the Secretary with P1.042 billion, Human Settlements Adjudication Commission with P408.9 million, National Housing Authority with P2 billion, and P500 million subsidy to  Social Housing Finance.

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He said the DOLE’s P25.899-billion budget for 2023 should develop and harness the country’s human resources, as an integral part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s socio-economic “Agenda for Prosperity” and economic transformation he presented in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Co meanwhile said the DTI’s P19.998-billion budget for next year will focus on the “backbone of the Philippine economy, the MSMSEs.”

The House appropriations committee has been working doubletime on the deliberations on the proposed budgets of individual departments to meet Congress’ self-imposed October deadline for the submission of the proposed 2023 national budget to the Senate.   

The DTI meanwhile said it is willing to partner with industry players to fund the unserved portion of its budgetary requirement as the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed by almost 50 percent the proposed P41.117 billion budget request of the Department for fiscal year 2023.

Trade secretary Alfredo Pascual said that despite the cut the DTI may still pursue the objectives set by the President especially for the micro, small and medium enterprises.

Under the 2023 National Expenditures Program (NEP), the DBM approved P22.196 billion budget for the DTI, including automatic appropriation, 10 percent lower compared to the approved budget of P24.59 billion in 2022.

For the attached agencies and/corporations, the appropriated budget declined by 22 percent to P1.71 billion from P2.19 billion. With Othel V. Campos

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