Health, social welfare, public works get biggest budget hike

Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The departments of health, social welfare and public works will get the biggest increase in the proposed P2.268-trillion budget for 2014.

The budget, which is P266 billion higher than the present P2.002-trillion, was designed to “continue the economic expansion and ensure that growth is inclusive in both sectoral and geographical sense, according to Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad.

The top 10 agencies in terms of budgetary allocations are the departments of education, public works, interior and local government, national defense, health, agriculture, social welfare and development, transportation and communications, environment and agrarian reform.

After three days of deliberations, President Benigno Aquino III approved the budget proposed by his Cabinet on Wednesday.

It will be submitted to Congress on July 23, a day after the President’s state of the nation address.

Abad told the Inquirer by phone on Friday that the biggest allocation increase approved by Mr. Aquino went to the Department of Health (DOH), followed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“The biggest increase was received first by DOH because of the commitment to increase its budget as a result of the passage of the sin tax law,” Abad said.

The DOH’s share has increased from this year’s P60 billion to P87 billion, a P27-billion or 45.5 percent increase, he said.

Of the total DOH budget, P35 billion will go to Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Abad added.

The second biggest increase went to DSWD—from P56.2 billion to P80 billion, or a 42-percent increase.

“The reason for that is we extended the CCT (conditional cash transfer) to cover completion of high school, not just elementary education,” said Abad.

Currently, the CCT program, which is also called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program or 4Ps, has a P44-billion budget to cover 3.5-million target household-beneficiaries for the year.

The third highest increase went to DPWH—from P152 billion to P214 billion in 2014 or a 40-percent increase—“because we put in a lot more money in flood control projects and construction of water system and, of course, national road improvements.”