Senate President Vicente Sotto III (left) and DBM Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado (right). Photo courtesy of Senate President Sotto.
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has transmitted to the Senate the executive department’s proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for 2021.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III confirmed this in a message to reporters on Wednesday.
“[The DBM] submitted the NEP (National Expenditure Program) yesterday,” he said.
The DBM also submitted the budget documents to the House of Representatives.
The P4.506-trillion proposed national budget for next year is 9.9 percent higher than the 2020 budget.
Earlier Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, said he sees a shift in budget priorities for 2021 given the impact inflicted by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
Angara had underscored the need to beef up the capacity of hospitals and improve the country’s internet infrastructure with employees resorting to work-from-home arrangements due to restrictions triggered by the current health crisis.