House OKs 2023 budget on final reading

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the proposed P5.26  trillion budget for 2023 on third and final reading, subject to individual amendments to be approved by a small committee.

The final vote was 289-3, with no abstention.

President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. earlier certified the budget bill as urgent.

With zero amendments so far, the following programs have remained unfunded:

• P1 billion for the health workers' Special Risk Allowance (SRA) amid the COVID-19 pandemic
• P25 billion for the P500 social pension hike for indigent senior citizens
• P66.2 million for the cash benefit of 662 Filipino centenarians
• P500 million aid for cancer patients and
• P532 million for Special Education

The proposed 2023 budget for the Agriculture department which President Marcos heads, however, got P163 billion which saw a P46 billion increase compared with its 2022 allocation.

The Department of Transportation received a P167 billion allocation for next year which is a 120% hike from its current budget.

The Department of Education led by Vice President Sara Duterte got the highest allocation in accordance with the Constitution at P710 billion, up from its P633 billion budget in 2022.

The small committee which will receive and resolve proposed individual amendments will be composed of House appropriations panel chairperson Elizalde Co of Ako Bicol party-list, panel vice chairperson Stella Quimbo of Marikina, House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe of Zamboanga City and House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan of 4Ps party-list.

Realign confidential, NTF-ELCAC fund

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT party-list, in her turno en contra speech, pushed anew to realign the confidential and intelligence fund of the Office of the President at P4.5 billion, the Office of the Vice President at P500 million and the Department of Education at P150 million.

"We should allocate sufficient funds for health, education, housing, among other social services. We should also provide immediate aid to our farmers, fisherfolk and laborers who are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. To fund these, we need to realign the P9.82 billion confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, and even the fund of the NTF-ELCAC (the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict)," among others," Castro said.

House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list agreed, saying the P10 billion allocation for the NTF-ELCAC is way higher than many government agencies.

"This P10 billion is not for an agency and yet it got a higher budget than the budget of the Department of Migrant Workers which only had P3 billion. Why not direct these funds directly to OFWs instead?," Brosas said.

The NTF-ELCAC's P10 billion budget for 2023 is also higher than the allocation for the Commission on Elections with P4 billion and the Office of the Ombudsman at P4.7 billion.

But for House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, the swift passage of the proposed P5.26-trillion budget will ensure the implementation of programs aimed at revitalizing the economy coming off the lingering effects of COVID-19 pandemic.

“The expeditious passage of the proposed 2023 budget is the product of the collective effort of the entire House, in transparent and open proceedings where the majority accorded ample opportunity for the constructive inputs of our friends from the minority bloc,” Romualdez said—LDF,GMA News