Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — The House of Representatives started its deliberation on the proposed P5.024 trillion 2022 national budget on Thursday.
The first day of the budget deliberations is dedicated to the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) which is composed of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the Department of Finance (DOF), and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco assured the public that the lower chamber would intently and carefully check the proposed national budget, particularly because it contains the government’s roadmap for the COVID-19 response.
“We, in the House of Representatives, are all set to carry out our constitutional duty of carefully scrutinizing the P5.024-trillion national budget, which includes an allocation of at least P240.75 billion for COVID-19 response,” Velasco said.
“As the coronavirus pandemic drags on and with no end in sight, it is incumbent upon Congress to swiftly pass a national budget that will not only serve as an instrument for development but also as a powerful tool to decisively defeat COVID-19 and rebuild people’s lives and livelihoods,” he added.
Earlier, the DBM provided a briefer, showing that a large portion of the national budget would be allocated to social services, amounting to P1.922 trillion or 38.3 percent while economic services would get P1.474 trillion.
General public services would get P862.7 billion or 17.2 percent; debt burden P541.3 billion or 10.8 percent and defense spending P224.4 billion or 4.5 percent.