House submits 2021 national budget to Malacañang

MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives on Friday transmitted the 2021 national budget worth a record-high P4.5 trillion to Malacañang for President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature.

This was according to House appropriations committee chair Eric Go Yap, who on Thursday witnessed Speaker Lord Allan Velasco’s signing of the General Appropriations Act.

“It was transmitted to Malacañang already, before lunch today,” Yap said in a text message to the Inquirer.

The day before, Velasco and Senate President Vicente Sotto III signed the final copy of the 2021 national budget prior to sending it to the President for his signature.

The Speaker described next year’s spending plan as the government’s “single most powerful tool” to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and spur economic recovery.

The Senate and the House ratified the 2021 general appropriations bill on Dec. 9 after agreeing to allocate a hefty P72 billion for vaccine purchase, to be funded mostly by loans and excess revenue collections.

Under the ratified bill, the education sector will get the lion’s share at P708.18 billion, to be allotted to the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education, state universities and colleges, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

The Department of Public Works and Highways will get P694.82 billion, with areas badly devastated by recent typhoons to get additional projects to rehabilitate roads and public infrastructure.

The health sector was allocated P287.47 billion, to be shared by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

This includes P2.5 billion under the DOH budget for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines, and another P70 billion under unprogrammed allocations for the purchase, storage, and distribution.