Sen. Edgardo Angara sponsored the plenary 2023 budget worth ₱5.268 trillion national budget amid local and global challenges.
Senate finance committee chair Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara sponsored in plenary the P5.268 trillion 2023 national budget, which he claimed, considered the usual budget priorities and new risks from global and local headwinds despite the huge fiscal challenge.
Angara said, in previous years the general appropriations bill from the House included priority allocations for the 4Ps – population, presyo or the continuing challenge of inflation, proyekto or the vital government projects, and personnel services or the huge bureaucratic payroll.
He said the 2023 budget wrestled with three more “Ps”– or “pandemic, Putin and Paeng” — referring to new fiscal requirements for continuing recovery from Covid’s impact on economic sectors, the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the huge tabs for damage caused by tropical storm Paeng, Business Mirror reported.
After Angara’s sponsorship speech, Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda delivered her co-sponsorship, endorsing the proposed 2023 budgets of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), including the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“The past two years have been challenging for many of us. The Covid-19 pandemic brought the world to an unprecedented level of societal disruption,” she said, noting that the world “was faced with enforced lockdowns, restricted movements, and a prohibition on traveling. With the global economy at a standstill, industries were devastated, and millions of jobs were lost.”
“As of November 7, 2022, the virus has affected more than 4 million individuals and claimed the lives of more than 64,000. The country’s poverty incidence also rose to 23.7 percent in the first half of 2021 from 21.1 percent in the same period of 2018. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by the worst contraction of GDP since World War II, falling by 9.5” in 2020,” Legarda continued.
Legarda said that the goal of the subcommittee report is to promote security and build back better by assessing measures that focus on potential targets for stimulus spending that may offer near-term benefits in terms of job creation and long-term outcomes for sustainability and resilience.
For the DOLE, which includes the TESDA the Legarda-led subcommittee recommended a 2023 budget of ₱49.223 billion.
The subcommittee submitted the 2023 budget of the DFA at ₱20.48 billion, an additional ₱181.48 million from the ₱20.30 billion proposed budget in the GAB.
Senior vice chair of finance committee Sen. Pia Cayetano endorsed the budget of the Department of Health (DOH) and its attached agencies and corporation, the Department of Education (DepEd) and its attached agencies, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), State Universities Colleges (SUCs), Cultural Agencies, and the Development Academy of the Philippines.
Senator Christopher Lawrence Go also co-sponsored the proposed 2023 General Appropriations Bill. Go thanked Angara and Cayetano for increasing the DoH budget.
“As chairman of the Committee on Health, I commend the inclusion of an additional budget for the expansion and strengthening of epidemiology and surveillance systems of the DoH. I also thank our colleagues for supporting the additional budget for the Cancer Assistance Fund. I also note the additional funds given for the hiring of immunization vaccinators to strengthen the immunization activities of the DOH to prevent potential outbreaks of various vaccine-preventable diseases. I also laud the additional budgets for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program and the Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients program,” Go said.
He also lauded the additional funding for the National Academy of Sports, new appropriations for the Department of Migrant Workers, and the Overseas Filipino Workers Hospital.
“Lastly, Mr. President, as the sponsor of the budget of the Philippine Sports Commission and the Games and Amusements Board, I also want to commend the Committee on Finance and our colleagues for supporting and adopting the increases in the budget of our sports programs,” he added.
Tags: #2023budgetdrive, #SenatorAngara