2021 budget to prioritize poor, small businesses affected by COVID-19 — solon

MANILA, Philippines — The national budget for 2021 will give priority to poor Filipinos and small businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis, House committee on appropriations chairperson ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Eric Yap said Thursday.

Yap said this was discussed during a preliminary meeting that was attended by Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Wendel E. Avisado and House Deputy Speaker for Finance, Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte.

“Para sa 2021 national budget, priority natin tugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng higit na naapektuhan ng COVID-19 crisis, hindi lang ang mga mahihirap, kung hindi ang iba ding industriya gaya ng mga Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs),” Yap said in a statement.

(For the 2021 national budget, our priority is to address the needs of those heavily affected by the COVID-19 crisis—not just the poor busy also other industries such as MSMEs.)

“Kailangan nila ng assistance mula sa ating pamahalaan para naman ay makabangon sila sa naging epekto ng krisis na ito at hindi magdulot ng masamang chain reaction sa labor force,” he added.

(They need assistance from the government so they can recover from the effects of the crisis so that it would not result in a negative chain reaction in the labor force.)

House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano earlier instructed Yap and Villafuerte to work with the executive department in crafting the national budget for 2021.

Cayetano said the House and the DBM were considering a smoother process for the preparation and approval of the annual national budget by having the legislative and executive departments work closely together.

Yap said that it is good for the executive and legislative departments to discuss the 2021 budget as early as now.

“We have to prepare, alam natin na matapos man ang krisis na ito, ang epekto nito ay tatagal at mararamdaman pa rin ng ating mga kababayan. Rest assured, the goverment is here to provide assistance,” Yap said.

(We have to prepare because we know that even after this crisis, its effects will still be felt by our countrymen. Rest assured that the government is here to provide assistance.)

In December 2019, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) endorsed a spending of P4.6 trillion for 2021, a P500 billion increase from the 2020 budget.

/MUF