The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday submitted to Congress the proposed P3.002 trillion national budget for 2016.
House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II on Tuesday said he has asked President Benigno Aquino III to certify as urgent the proposed P3.002 trillion budget for 2016 so that the bill could be passed on third and final reading on Friday.
In a press conference, Gonzales said it is urgent to pass the budget on final reading immediately after having it approved on second reading because of its erratic schedule in the coming months.
This is because when Congress resumes from its break on November, quorum may be a problem especially with representatives campaigning in their districts already for next year’s elections.
Congress will have its Halloween break from Oct. 10 to Nov. 2.
“I requested a certification to make the budget bill an urgent measure because of the difficulty of passing it on third and final reading,” Gonzales said.
“We have an erratic schedule and November 3 (resumption of session) falls on Tuesday. Hindi ko alam if there are enough people (lawmakers), we will have difficulty to transmit that to the Senate. That is why I made a suggestion na magkaroon ng certification (I don’t know if there are enough people, we will have difficulty to transmit that to the Senate. That is why I made a suggestion to have a certification),” he added.
Gonzales said he is confident the proposed General Appropriations Act would be passed on time.
READ: Bicameral committee approves proposed 2015 national budget
The 2016 proposed General Appropriations Act is 15.2 percent higher than the P2.606 trillion budget approved in 2015.
The proposed budget also represents 19.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2016, higher than the 18.7 percent GDP share in 2015 and 16.4 percent GDP share (actual obligations) in 2010.
The breakdown of the proposed 2016 budget is as follows:
Social services — P1.106 trillion up from P952.7 billion in 2015
Economic services — P829.6 billion, up from P707 billion
General public services — P517.9 billion up from P431.1 billion
Debt burden — P419.3 billion up from P399.4 billion
Defense — P129.1 billion up from P115.8 billion
Social services topped the sector with 36.8 percent of the pie, followed by economic services with 27.6 percent, general public services with 17.3 percent, debt burden with 14 percent and defense with 4.3 percent.
The Department of Education topped the government agencies with the lion’s share of the budget with P435.9 billion from P377.7 billion in 2015.
It is followed by:
Department of Public Works and Highways — 394.5 billion from P304.1 billion
National Defense — P172.7 billion from P154.1 billion
Interior and Local Government — P154.5 billion from P147.2 billion
Health — P128.4 billion from P102.6 billion
Social Welfare and Development — P104.2 billion from P108.3 billion
Agriculture — P93.4 billion from P90.2 billion
Finance — P55.3 billion from P16.9 billion
Transportation and Communication — P49.3 billion from P59.4 billion
Environment and Natural Resources — P25.8 billion from P21.7 billion
Science and Technology — P18.6 billion from P18 billion
Marc Jayson Cayabyab/RAM