Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles. MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB/INQUIRER.net
Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, the chairman of the appropriations committee at the House of Representatives, lauded the signing into law of the P3.35 trillion General Appropriations Act for 2017 by President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a statement on Thursday, Nograles said the approved budget represented the agenda for change under the Duterte administration and is supportive of the administration’s bloody war on drugs that has claimed over 6,000 lives.
Nograles said the budget would improve the capability of the police in carrying out the campaign against drugs, as well as provide rehabilitation for drug pushers who surrendered.
“This 2017 budget fully supports the President’s all-out war against drugs, crime and terrorism by fully supporting the needs of our policemen and our soldiers, while providing funds for the establishment of drug rehabilitation centers,” Nograles said.
Nograles said the 2017 budget also seeks to accelerate economic growth on the back of 30 percent spending on economic services and 40 percent on social services.
“The 2017 General Appropriations Act concretizes the President’s commitment in bringing meaningful change to the country, as this literally puts money where his mouth is. The national budget spells out in very clear terms the policy of the Duterte administration and that is to take care of the poor and marginalized sectors of society, with 40 percent going to social services,” Nograles said.
“This budget is also meant to grow our economy even more and accelerate economic activities particularly in the countryside and rural areas, with nearly 30percent spending on economic services next year 2017,” he added.
Nograles said the 2017 budget sought for hefty increases in the budget for the Commission on Higher Education to give free tuition to state universities and colleges (SUCs).
READ: Free tuition in SUCs starting next school year, says Legarda
Earlier, Congress sitting as bicameral conference agreed to realign the P8.3-billion — originally allocated by the House to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) development projects — to the CHED to provide free tuition for SUCs.
The 2017 budget also subsidized the irrigation fees of farmers to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of providing free irrigation, Nograles added. JE
READ: Free tuition in SUCs a ‘game-changer’—Kabataan
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