House approves proposed P4.5T nat’l budget for 2021

MANILA, Philippines — After weeks of briefings and days of marathon sessions, the House of Representatives on Friday night passed on third and final reading the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.

With 257 affirmative votes, the lower legislative body approved House Bill No. 7727 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) which contains next year’s expenditure plan of the government. However, six (6) lawmakers voted against the bill’s passage.

The proposed budget was approved on the last day of the four-day marathon special session called for by President Rodrigo Duterte to avoid delays in its passage.

It was also passed just minutes after its second-reading approval, which was made possible by Duterte certifying the measure as urgent.

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado earlier said the proposed national budget for 2021 is at P4.506 trillion, which is 9.9 percent higher than the 2020 budget and 21.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Avisado said the proposed 2021 budget focuses on the improvement of the country’s healthcare systems, ensuring food security, the creation of more jobs by investing in labor-intensive projects, enabling a digital government and economy, and helping communities cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The education sector got the highest allocation at P754.4 billion – higher than its 2020 budget of P650.2 billion.

This budget covers the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and state universities and colleges across the country.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) also got considerable funding for 2021 with P667.3 billion. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which has P246.1 billion; Department of National Defense (DND), which has P209.1 billion; and Department of Health (DOH), which has P203.1 billion likewise obtained bigger shares of the 2021 budget pie.

Meanwhile, House members approved a P171.2 billion budget for the Department of Social Welfare and Development next year; P143.6 billion for the Department of Transportation (DOTr); P66.4 billion for the Department of Agriculture (DA); P43.5 billion for the Judiciary; and P27.5 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Following the passage of the measure, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said next year’s budget “requires us to strike a balance in providing a fiscal stimulus for economic recovery while containing the spread and mitigating the effects of COVID-19.”

Velasco also assured the President that the country will not have a reenacted budget by January next year.

“We will transmit, without delay, the approved bill to the Senate and give our counterparts sufficient time to examine the national budget,” Velasco said.

“Mr President, Mayor, Sir, we present to you a budget for lives and livelihood. Ito ang tunay na budget ng bayan (This is the true budget of the nation),” he added.

What’s next?

Before the measure was approved on the second reading, a small committee was created to receive and resolve individual amendments to the proposed 2021 national budget.

The body was composed of the following lawmakers:

• Majority Leader Martin Romualdez
• House appropriations chair Eric Yap (ACT CIS Party-list)
• Rizal 1st District Rep. Jack Duavit
• Bataan 2nd District Rep. Jose Enrique Garcia
• Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda
• Batangas 1st District Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain
• BH Partylist Rep. Bernadette Herrera
• AAMBIS-OWA Partyl-ist Rep. Sharon Garin
• Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Doy Leachon
• Camiguin Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo
• Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Luisa Lloren Cuaresma
• Samar 1st District Rep. Edgar Marie Sarmiento
• Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo
• Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman

Members of the House were ordered to submit their proposed individual amendments to House Bill No. 7727 not later than October 19, Monday.

Meanwhile, Yap said the Senate will receive a soft copy of the House-approved 2021 budget proposal by October 28, as requested by some senators.

“Alinsunod sa gusto ni SP Vicente Sotto III. So para sa akin wala na po akong nakikitang reason para ma reenact o ma-delay po ang budget dahil November 9 po sila mag start ng kanilang session and ako po ay natutuwa sa Senate dahil inagahan po nila ang pag resume ng session nila from November 16, naging November 9 na,” Yap said.

“October 28 natin isa-submit sa Senate ‘yung soft copy nung GAB,” he added.

Once it is transmitted to the Senate, it is the turn of the upper legislative body to scrutinize the government’s spending plan for next year.

Long road to approval

The House met several issues along the way prior to finally approving the measure on Friday night – mainly the speakership squabble between Velasco and former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

On October 6, Cayetano suddenly moved to terminate the period of debates and amendments to the proposed funding and suggested the creation of a smaller committee “with full powers to entertain committee as well as individual amendments by the members.”

The proposed 2021 budget was approved on second reading minutes before Cayetano and his allies introduced the termination of the House session, which effectively closed the period of debates and amendments on the bill.

Although the bill’s second reading approval came earlier than expected, the House session was suspended until November 16—essentially delaying the third reading approval of the measure which was initially set on October 16.

The move to suspend the session earlier than scheduled seemed to have earned the ire of Duterte who called for a special session from October 13 to 16 to avert delays in the 2021 budget bill’s passage.

Duterte’s order for a special session comes as senators said the abrupt termination of the House session would result in a reenacted budget for next year – something that the government could not afford in this time of a public health crisis.

On October 12, 186 lawmakers ousted Cayetano from the speakership and elected Velasco as the new top leader of the House.

Majority of the legislators ratified Velasco’s win the following day leading to Cayetano’s resignation as Speaker.

KGA