Duterte to submit proposed 2018 budget on day of Sona

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno says President Rodrigo Duterte plans to submit the administration’s 2018 proposed budget to Congress on the day of his State of the Nation Address on July 24. NESTOR CORRALES / INQUIRER.net

President Rodrigo Duterte plans to submit to Congress his administration’s proposed 2018 national budget on July 24, the day of his second State of the Nation Address (Sona), his budget secretary said Friday.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Duterte would submit the P3.767-trillion national budget when the 17th Congress starts its session.

“The President plans to submit the budget on the day of the Sona itself. Why are we doing this, so we can have an early start for the 2018,” Diokno said in a Palace briefing.

“The 2018 proposed national budget, which we proposed and the President approved, has a total of P3.767 trillion, with the biggest allocation going to education and infrastructure development,” he added.
Duterte approved the proposed national budget for 2018 during the 16th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on July 4.

The President in 2016 submitted the proposed 2017 national budget a month after his Sona.

READ: House ratifies P3.35-T nat’l budget for 2017

The Chief Executive, under the Constitution, has 30 days after Congress convenes to submit his proposed budget. JPV/rga