The yearly budget proposed by the executive branch of the government aims to generally improve the lot of the people through sustained economic development and increased services. Through individual allocations to line agencies of the government, the budget will assume a persona that will reflect what the government of President Rodrigo Duterte wants to achieve in a given year and over his full term.
President Duterte in his budget message to Congress stressed the need for “reducing inequality, maintaining the foundation for sustainable development, increasing the growth potential and enhancing the social fabric.”
Reducing inequality essentially refers to poverty alleviation and the task to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich. It is the biggest challenge faced by the administration, one that must be addressed forcefully to bring about real change. Every president of the Philippines has tried to lick the poverty problem and no one, so far, has even come close to doing it.
The Philippine economy has expanded impressively over the last 10 years but growth has not created a spillover effect to the marginal sector. President Duterte’s proposed 2018 budget will try to produce an inclusive economic growth, one that will reduce poverty and sustain the gains of the past.
The proposed P3.767-trillion expenditure program is allocating the largest sums to the education sector and the infrastructure development program Build, Build, Build. A total of P691.1 billion makes up the combined budgets of the Department of Education with P613.1 billion, the Commission on Higher Education with P13.5 billion and the State Universities and Colleges with P64.6 billion.
The government is also earmarking P1.097 trillion or over a quarter of the budget to support the Build, Build, Build Program. The amount is an increase of 27.8 percent from the 2017 adjusted level of P858.1 billion and puts the infrastructure budget at 6.3 percent of the gross domestic product next year.
Drawing up the budget and finding the money to finance it, however, is a complicated task. Raising revenues, for one, could be unpopular, especially if it involves increasing gasoline taxes and the value added tax. But real change is often painful and is never easy.