Lawmakers on Thursday quizzed the administration’s economic managers over various aspects of their proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.
In the Senate, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian questioned the 53 percent cut in the allocation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), saying it would need more funds given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The DSWD budget for the current year is P366 billion, but the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recommended its allocation be cut to P172 billion in 2021.
Based on the projection of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Gatchalian said next year’s poverty rate would be 15.5 to 17.5 percent.
He said the poverty rate would be higher in urban areas which have been adversely affected by the pandemic. He also said the vaccines for COVID-19 will likely be available no earlier than the middle of next year.
Because of this, Gatchalian underscored the need for a bigger DSWD budget next year.
But Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the DSWD budget for this year was actually pegged at P164 billion but rose to P366.5 billion due to the Bayanihan 1, a law that funded the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also said the DSWD budget was lower next year because it will no longer have the social amelioration program (SAP).
Gatchalian said, however, that because of the pandemic, the department’s unconditional cash transfer program should be extended until next year.
Avisado said he would not oppose an extension.
Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe questioned the multi-billion peso allocation for flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which she noted was even bigger than the budget proposed for the Department of Health (DOH), which is at the forefront of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Since COVID-19 is still present, one would assume that including our health facilities would be the priority,” Poe said at the continuation of a briefing with economic managers on the proposed 2021 budget.
She vowed to scrutinize the details of the proposed appropriations for the DPWH during deliberations with the agency.
“Environmental factors should not be neglected and there are really some legitimate flood control projects. But there are a few flood control projects that are questionable because it’s hard to keep track of them if they were really done,” she said.
“We will look at this in depth when we have the individual hearings with the department and ask the DPWH to clarify,” Poe added.
The senator pointed out the country is in the midst of a pandemic that requires enormous resources to adequately respond to public health needs.
Ensuring that the country is winning the battle against COVID-19 will also lead to economic recovery, the senator said.
Avisado said the agency will work with Congress in coming up with a budget that strikes a balance between health and the economy.
Poe said she would also look into the reduced budget for the Department of Education’s basic education continuity program, which was given only P16 billion from its original request of P60 billion.
The senator also raised the issue of technical smuggling at the Bureau of Customs and asked about the measures the agency is taking to curb the illegal activities that deprive the government of much-needed revenues.
The Development Budget Coordination Committee, composed of government economic managers, presented before the Senate finance committee the proposed P4.506 trillion spending program for 2021 detailing a comprehensive plan on how to meet the challenges of economic recovery and social service as the country continues to battle COVID-19.
The latest National Expenditure Program is 9.9 percent higher than the 2020 budget, and 21.8 percent of the country’s Philippine gross domestic product (GDP).
Tax and revenue collections will finance next year’s budget, which will also be covered by domestic and international loans.
Poe also inquired about the current level of debt as a percentage of the GDP.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Senator Panfilo Lacson raised questions on the ability of DPWH and the Department of Transportation (DoTr) to accomplish infrastructure programs to rebound from the pandemic.
He also confronted the economic managers over P396 billion in lump sums in the DPWH’s budget – lodged in the central office, re-appropriations involving 2,933 items worth P73.5 billion in the proposed budget and the P30 billion not yet allocated for COVID-19 response.
Lacson said DPWH and DoTR both had a history of underspending.
Malacanang on Thursday said that no more cash assistance will be given to poor families under the proposed 2021 budget as the government will no longer reimpose lockdowns.
Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the pending Bayanihan to Recover as One Act will focus on providing livelihood and loan assistance to low-income households instead of handing over cash assistance similar to the social amelioration program or SAP.
In his regular press briefing, Roque said the executive branch decided to no longer allocate funds for another SAP under the proposed 2021 budget because it has already opened up the economy.
“We’re already done giving emergency cash subsidies because we have no plans of declaring widespread lockdowns,” he said.
Under Bayanihan 2, Roque said the government will provide loans coming from the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Agriculture.
In the House, the chairman of the committee on public accounts urged the Department of Finance (DOF) to explain in detail the P1.86-trillion in loans the government obtained from January to July this year.
“People are asking questions about the borrowings, particularly where the money was used and why did we have to borrow at the time each loan was incurred. For the sake of transparency, the DOF should account for the debt for the first seven months,” Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor said.
He said he and many people understand that the government has to borrow from foreign and domestic lenders to augment funds in the fight against Covid-19.
“But for the understanding of the greater public, the DOF, together with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), has to explain to clear up issues. For instance, how much of the P1.86 trillion went to COVID-19 response measures, how much for infrastructure, how much for debt repayment, and how much for salaries, if any,” he added.
Defensor noted that last week, Budget Secretary Avisado reported that as of Aug. 28, the DBM had released a total of P389 billion for COVID-19 response.
Of the amount disbursed, P266.53 billion came from discontinued projects, activities and programs (PAPs), in the 2019 and 2020 budgets, P102.06 from special purpose funds and P20.48 from regular agency appropriations.
Of the P389 billion, P211 billion was used for the two waves of financial assistance to at least 18 million low-income families amounting to P5,000-P8,000 under Bayanihan 1 or the We Heal as One Law.
Similarly, Defensor urged the DBM to specify what projects, activities and programs have been scrapped so the people would not wait for these.
He also asked the DBM to tell Congress and the public how much the government saved from continuing lockdowns since March, which are the world’s longest quarantine restrictions.
He said work-from-home instructions for most government workers should have meant savings in the billions in terms of use of electricity, water, telephone, internet, office supplies, vehicles, fuel, and other maintenance and operating expenses.
He said the P4.1-trillion national budget for this year allocates a total of P1.6 trillion for MOOE.
Defensor earlier proposed that because of long lockdowns, the MOOE allocation be cut by at least 20 percent or P320 billion, and the money be used to augment COVID-19 response funds.
A party-list legislator pushed for a higher budget allocation for the judiciary under next year’s national budget.
Assistant Minority Leader and Rep. France Castro of ACT Teachers said a lower budget for the judiciary would equate to a “slow grind of justice and that justice delayed is justice denied.”
Castro observed that almost P9.35 billion was cut from the budget of the Supreme Court and its lower courts from its proposed P47.06 billion and only allocated P37.7 billion as seen in the 2021 National Expenditures Program.
“Though this budget allocation seen in the 2021 NEP increased from their 2020 budget by P2.31 billion, this is far from what our judiciary system needs to be able to properly execute its mandate and functions. Court Administrator Midas Marquez even further clarified that the increase in their budget was for the salary increases of our judges and not much was allocated for the adoption of our judiciary for the new normal,” Castro added as the House committee on appropriations deliberated on the judiciary’s proposed budget for next year.
