Budget cuts on social services decried as 2023 GAB reaches House plenary

Opposition lawmakers on Tuesday questioned the huge allocations of confidential and intelligence funds to various agencies while allocation for social services were significantly reduced under the P5.268-trillion proposed budget for 2023.

Gabriela party-list Representative Arlene Brosas, Kabataan party-list representative Raoul Manuel, and Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman were referring to the reduced budget for the following government programs:

• protective services for individuals and families in especially difficult circumstances with P19.8 billion (50% less than its current allocation)
• Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers at P25.8 billion which is lower than its 2022 allocation of P36.9 billion 2022 allocation
• Adjustment Measures Program with P316 million which is lower than its 2022 budget of P491 million

Brosas said while these budget provisions on social services were reduced, the Defense Department got a P310 billion proposed budget for 2023, the Armed Forces of the Philippines'  modernization program was allocated P45 billion, the Office of the President and the Vice President got P2.5 billion and P500 million in confidential funds, respectively, and the anti-insurgency task force was funded with P10 billion.

"Bakit po ganoon? Mahirap tanggapin na limitado ang fiscal space dahil bumubukol ang pondo sa mga proyektong walang direktang pakinabang ang mamamayan," Brosas said during plenary deliberations on the proposed 2023 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) at the House of Representatives.

"Parang tore na po itong confidential funds noong nakaraang administrasyon at hindi ito nagbago sa unang budget ng isasalang ng current administration. This (proposed budget) reflects something: kung ano ang priorities o mispriorities at ikinukubli ng administrasyon," Manuel, for his part, said.

Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo, senior vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations, responded by saying funds are not enough to meet all the needs of the country.

"We have unlimited needs but unfortunately limited funds. That is our problem. We  have a small fiscal space, we only added P244 billion from the previous budget. It is really a challenge due to poverty and unemployment. We had to secure loans for our COVID-19 response, because of that, we need to manage our total debt," Quimbo said.

"But it does not mean they (social programs with reduced budget) are not important," she added.

Hataman, for his part, said budget cuts to the employment aid program TUPAD, as well as support to small businesses under the Department of Trade and Industry and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) are baffling.

"Bakit TUPAD ang binawasan tapos tumaas ang budget ng mga ahensiya na hindi naman related sa economic recovery? Bakit itong mga programang ito ang sinasakripsiyo?" Hataman said.

Quimbo justified the huge allocations for confidential funds and the military budget by citing the need for right information and national security.

"[Encouraging] foreign investors has to do with national security. Investors need predictability. They won't invest in a place na walang predictability, and a big part of that predictability is national security," Quimbo said.

Increased allocations in intelligence and military budget, she said, "is directly and strongly related with economic recovery."

"Kung kulang ang ating information, sayang lang ang perang ilalagay natin [sa programa ng gobyerno]," she added. —KBK, GMA News