Congress on Wednesday night ratified the final version of the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021, which President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to sign into law before the year ends.
The House of Representatives was the first to approve the final version of the 2021 budget, with the Senate following suit about two hours later, green-lighting the spending plan aimed at speeding up the economy battered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ratification came hours after members of the bicameral budget panel, composed of senators and congressmen, adopted the report in their meeting in a hotel in Makati City earlier in the day. It will be sent to the President for approval after a week or once it is printed.
“If it can be done in seven days’ printing, the budget book would come in (to Malacanang) by December 18. If not, before Christmas, maybe December 21,” House appropriations committee chairman Rep. Eric Yap, who presided over the bicameral body with Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, said.
Prior to the adoption of next year’s budget, Senate President Vicente Sotto said there was no need for a nominal voting of bicameral approval.
Senate Majority Leader Migz Zubiri moved to adopt and ratify the budget which he described as “historic” due to the current conditions under the cloud of the coronavirus.
Still, Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the bicameral committee’s move to increase the 2021 budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to P694.8 billion despite its low disbursement rate in past years.
Comparing what was indicated in the national expenditure program and the bicam report, Lacson pointed out that the DPWH budget increased by P28.3 billion. The agency got the second-highest allocation in the 2021 budget. (see table – Editors).
“What is the logic in further increasing the budget of the agency in 2021 considering the challenges brought about by the pandemic?” he said.
But Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House committee of ways and means, said: “The ball will be in the President’s court early, so there is almost no risk that we will face a delayed budget enactment this year. That can only mean well for [the] 2021 economic recovery.”
He said the early passage of the 2021 General Appropriations Act and a corporate recovery and tax reform bill would be a strong foundation for an economic rebound.
“With these reforms done, we can focus on economic relief and the vaccine rollout,” Salceda added.
Salceda said the budget reflected a P300-billion increase in infrastructure spending that the House sought from the economic managers during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.
Apart from P1.1 trillion for infrastructure, the 2021 budget also includes P7.6 billion in additional spending for adapting to post-COVID life, including items on telecommunications enhancements. The budget also includes P203 billion for health care, Salceda said.
The 2021 budget deficit is expected to be at 8.5 percent of the gross domestic product, but Salceda said this can still come down.
“The actual budget deficit ultimately depends upon how fast we spend, how quickly the economy recovers, and how well we collect revenues. We cannot slow down spending during the recovery. It is vital that we spend quickly. But we can make collection more efficient,” Salceda said.
In a press conference earlier Wednesday, Angara said that Congress is planning to extend the validity of the 2020 budget until June or December 2021, and the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) until March or mid-2021.
“The 2020 GAA (General Appropriations Act) has a lot of projects that were delayed because of the lockdown, of quarantine so additional time is needed,” Angara said.
He noted that the P8 billion in Bayanihan 2 allotted to vaccine acquisition would also expire on Dec. 19 and would revert to the National Treasure if the law were not extended.
Aside from Angara, physically present in the bicameral conference were Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Pia Cayetano.
From the House contingent, present were appropriations committee chair Yap and Reps. Mikee Romero and Bernadette Dy.
Angara said both the Senate and House contingents focused on responding to the pandemic and calamities, especially following the recent series of typhoons that ravaged the country.
Among the agencies with the biggest budget are the education sector composed of the Department of Education, State Colleges and Universities, Commission on Higher Education and Tesda with a budget of P708.18 million. This was followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways with a budget of P694.82 million.
The Department of Interior and Local Government came in third with P247.51 million. The Department of National Defense had the fourth highest budget at P205.47 million.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health are No. 5 and 6 with allocations of P176.66 million and P134.94 million, respectively.
They were followed by the Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, the Judiciary, and the Department of Labor and Employment.
Angara said they have allotted P70 billion for the COVID-19 vaccines aside from the P8 billion in Bayanihan 2, the validity of which would be extended.
New laws would be funded as well under the 2021 national budget, Angara said.
These include the CHED Medical Scholarship, and Return Service Program, DEPED increase in chalk allowance from P3,000 to P5,000, DOH-Assistance to cancer patients, NEDA-Innovation Fund, PSA- National ID System, The Commission on Human Rights implementation of the mental health law, and the creation of Judicial Marshal Service.
Senator Grace Poe said the 2021 budget is timely, targeted, and laser-focused on people who are most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It seeks to respond to real needs for better health protection, equal access to quality education, efficient transportation and infrastructure, and inclusive social protection,” said Poe.
These include workers who returned from overseas and other workers displaced by the pandemic.
She said funds will also be set aside to set up the National Broadband Infrastructure for better, accessible, and affordable internet services — a necessity for workers, students, and businesses under the “new normal.”