DBM turns over proposed P3.002 trillion national budget for 2016

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Tuesday submitted to Congress the proposed P3.002 trillion national budget for 2016.

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad turned over the proposed budget to Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Majority leader Neptali Gonzales II.

The 2016 proposed General Appropriations Act is 15.2 percent higher from the P2.606 trillion approved 2015 budget.

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.

Abad said the 2015 budget aims to sustain the gain the administration said it achieved in the past five years.

The DBM submitted the budget a day after President Benigno Aquino III delivered his last State of the Nation Address (Sona), where he trumpeted timely passage of the budget doing away with the practice of rehashing a reenacted budget.

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 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