Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman. —Department of Budget and Management facebook
MANILA, Philippines — “A budget that is responsive to every need of every Filipino” was how Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman described the 2023 National Expenditure Program (NEP) that the Marcos administration submitted to Congress to be the basis of the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
Pangandaman said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) evaluated a total of P8.66 trillion worth of agency funding proposals for 2023. The resulting P5.268-trillion draft budget is 4.9 percent higher than this year’s and equivalent to 22.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
The education sector tops the list of 10 highest proposed allocations with P852.8 billion, followed by the public works sector with P705.6 billion.
Third came health, P217.8 billion; social welfare, P185.3 billion; agriculture, P172 billion; transportation, P145.4 billion; defense, P101.9 billion; interior and local government, P34.8 billion; labor and employment, P34.4 billion; and science and technology, P19.3 billion.
More for 5 sectors
Five sectors saw an increase in their allocations compared to this year: transportation (147.7 percent), agriculture (42.3 percent), health (12.4 percent), defense (11.0 percent) and education (8.2 percent). The higher figure for transportation and agriculture “reflects the administration’s priority sectors,” the DBM chief said.
The other five sectors have lower allocations: labor and employment, (-23.0 percent); interior and local government (-9.5 percent), public works (-9.1 percent), social welfare (-4.7 percent), and science and technology (-2.1 percent).
The Department of Agriculture’s food security program will receive a larger share in 2023. The budget for the National Rice Program, in particular, almost doubled to P30.55 billion from P15.77 billion.
The increase is largely due to the P19.48-billion budget for expanded fertilizer support. It is supposed to be complemented by the P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, half of which will be for farm mechanization as envisioned under the Rice Liberalization Act.
Pangandaman said the Marcos administration would also support “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects under the Build Better More program to spur growth in the agriculture, trade and tourism sectors, and eventually to reduce transport and logistics costs.
Infra spending
A total of P1.196 trillion is allocated for these programs, equivalent to 5 percent of GDP. It is within the target of 5 percent to 6 percent of GDP annual appropriation for infrastructure, she said.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr) lead the list of top 10 departments receiving the bulk of the proposed infrastructure budget, at P697.70 billion and P129.81 billion respectively.
Significant amounts are intended for social infrastructure, such as hospitals and health centers (P23.24 billion), school buildings (P13.91 billion) and housing community facilities (2.50 billion).
Support for agriculture and environmental sectors, particularly for irrigation and water supply systems (P5.28 billion), power supply systems (P3.60 billion) and reforestation projects (P1.37 billion) are also lined up.
The Department of Energy will receive P2.2 billion for its programs, of which P476 million will be for its renewable energy development program, energy efficiency and conservation program, and alternative fuels and technology program.
Asked if there would be an allocation for the revival of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the DBM chief said there was none yet.
Financial aid, education
The government is setting aside P206.5 billion for financial assistance. It will be composed of the cash transfer and other subsidy programs of various agencies: P165.4 billion under the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and P22.39 billion for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients program of the Department of Health (DOH).
The Tupad (Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers) program of the Department of Labor and Employment will get P14.9 billion. Another P2.5 billion will go to the DOTr to cover fuel subsidies for the transport sector.
Out of the P852.8 billion allotted for the education sector, the basic education facilities program (school building construction) was given P9.28 billion, and flexible learning options program (production of learning materials) got P19.95 billion.
Health, climate change
Subsidies and cash assistance for students in senior high school and technical-vocational courses got a budget of P54.9 billion.
For the health-care system, P23 billion was allocated for DOH health facilities enhancement program, P720 million for the National Surveillance Network (related to COVID-19 contract tracing and data gathering), disease prevention and control programs get P5.84 billion, and vaccine procurement is alloted P22 billion.
Programs related to climate change mitigation are given P453.11 billion, equivalent to 8.6 percent of the total 2023 budget and higher by 56.4 percent than this year’s allocation of P289.73 billion.
The climate change expenditure has increased in recent years, Pangandaman said, growing by an average of 21.3 percent from 2015 to 2023—much faster than the average annual growth rate of the total national government expenditure of 10.5 percent.
Among the items on these expenditure list are DPWH flood management program, P168.5 billion; and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) national greening program and protected area of development and management program, which will have P2.49 billion and 94.72 million, respectively.
The DENR will also get P246.12 million for the management of coastal and marine resources.
To accelerate the digitalization of the government bureaucracy, P12.4 billion has been alloted to information technology (IT) projects. The Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs will get P3.56 billion, or equivalent to 28.6 percent of the IT upgrade budget.