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[av_heading heading=’House OKs 2017 ‘budget for change’ ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY JULIO YAP JR.
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MANILA – Through viva voce voting, the House of Representatives approved the P3.35-trillion proposed national budget for 2017 on Wednesday night.
Dubbed “Budget for Real Change,” House Bill 3408, or the 2017 General Appropriations Bill (GAB), is intended to fund President Rodrigo Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic development agenda.
Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas directed the House members to submit their individual proposed amendments to the committee on appropriations chaired by Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles (1st District, Davao City) on Oct. 10.
Nograles described the 2017 GAB as “truly for the people, of the people and by the people.”
It would “fuel our quest for reforms that would uplift the lives of our people and fight the many evils plaguing our nation, such as drugs, crime and corruption,” he said.
The plenary approval of the 2017 GAB came after eight days of marathon plenary debates, beginning Sept. 26, on the budgets of the various government departments, attached agencies and other offices.
It was record-setting, Fariñas said, since budget measures in previous years took the chamber at least 10 working days to approve in the plenary.
“I am happy with the swift approval of the 2017 (GAB),” said Nograles. “This is one big step toward the realization of true and meaningful change.”
Prior to the floor debates, the committee on appropriations held 33 committee hearings and 22 pre-plenary conferences to ensure full scrutiny of the budgets.
“This is the first General Appropriations Act of the new Duterte administration,” Nograles said. “The manner by which we meticulously worked on every item is indicative of the urgency for change that President Duterte himself initiated on the first day of his term.”
In his Budget Message, Duterte urged the lawmakers to scrutinize the budget and approve it.
“More than being a collection of figures and provisions, the proposed 2017 national budget is the embodiment of our people’s clamor for real change and a compassionate government,” he said.
The proposed budget of P3.35-trillion is 11.6 percent higher than the current year’s budget of P3.002 trillion.
“It is a budget that gives flesh and bone to the promise by which I won as President, which is to fight for social justice,” said the President. “It was designed to realize change in the here and now.”
The proposed 2017 budget is 20.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This year’s budget is 20.1 percent of the GDP, according to the Department of Budget and Management.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez presided the session./PN
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