Senate starts talks on proposed P4.5T national budget for 2021

Senate starts deliberations on the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021. Screengrab from Senate Youtube livestream

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate kicked off on Wednesday discussions on the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021 with a briefing from the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

The DBCC is the interagency body that determines the overall economic targets, expenditure levels and budget of the government.

It is composed of the Department of Budget and Management, National Economic and Development Authority, Department of Finance, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

In late August, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado personally submitted the proposed budget to the House of Representatives amounting to P4.506 trillion, which is 9.9 percent bigger than the 2020 budget.

A copy of the national budget plan was also submitted to the Senate.

Avisado previously said that the proposed budget focuses on government spending on improving the country’s healthcare systems, ensuring food security, creating more jobs by investing on labor-intensive projects, enabling a digital government and economy, among others.

The House of Representatives already began its budget deliberations last September 4.

Earlier, Senator Sonny Angara, chair of the Senate finance committee, assured that the upper chamber will come up with a “well-crafted” national budget for 2021 before the year ends.

‘We will not be wasteful’

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told senators that the 2021 budget “will provide us with tools necessary to rebuild our economy and decisively defeat COVID-19.”

“How a country’s economy performs during COVID-19 and how quickly it can bounce back once the crisis is over will depend on its economic resilience,” he said.

“This is why we have been consistent with our approach. We will do what is necessary, but we will not be wasteful,” Dominguez added.

EDV