House starts deliberations on P2.006-trillion national budget for 2013

The House committee on appropriations and officials meet to thresh out details on the P2.006 trillion proposed national budget for 2013 at the Andaya Hall in Batasan Complex. KAREN BONCOCAN/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines— The House of Representatives started on Wednesday morning the first day of its committee level deliberations on the proposed P2.006-trillion national budget for 2013.

House committee on appropriations chair Cavite Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya led in discussions with officials of the Development Budget Coordinating Committee (DBCC).

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., members of the majority and minority blocs, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, National Economic Development Authority (Neda) Director General Arsenio Balisacan Jr., Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando Tetangco Jr., and Bureau of Internal Revenue Kim Henares were present during the hearing.

Abad reiterated that the policy for the disaggregation of lump-sum funds will be upheld in 2013 as well as the budget-as-release document regime by 2014, which means that agencies will no longer use the budget request and release process.

He said that appropriations for 2013 will only be valid for that year and can no longer be carried over to a second year.

Balisacan was the first to present their basis for macroeconomic and fiscal assumptions for the next year, briefing lawmakers about the 2011 to 2012 GDP growth which he said could rise to six to seven percent in 2013 from this year’s expected five to six percent growth.

Tetangco briefed lawmakers on what the country’s plans on banking and finance were for next year, as well as the challenges it faces in relation to the Eurozone debt crisis and developments of economies of other countries like the United States.

Composed of the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Finance, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Neda, the DBCC was tasked to explain and defend the increase 10.5 increase in the proposed budget for next year to lawmakers.

The proposed budget went through the DBCC’s review before it was handed over by Abaya to the House of Representatives last week.

The said panel explained to the committee on appropriations how the P2.006-trillion funding will be utilized in line with the country’s directions when it comes to the economy as well as its macroeconomic and fiscal aspirations for 2013.

Under the said proposal, it is the Department of Education which will receive the biggest chunk from the national budget (P292.7 billion) followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (P152.9 billion), the Department of National Defense (P121.6 billion), the Department of Interior and Local Government (P121.1 billion), the Department of Agriculture (P74.1 billion), the Department of Health (P56.8 billion), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (P56.2 billion), the Department of Finance (P33.2 billion) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (P23.7 billion).

The social services sector will get 34.8 percent of the budget, followed by economic services with 25.5 percent, general public service with 17.3 percent, debt burden with 16.6 percent, and defense with 4.5 percent.

The entire month of August has been devoted to committee level deliberations on the proposed national budget.

First posted 10:01 am | Wednesday, August 1st, 2012