THE SENATE and the House of Representatives have started holding bicameral panel meetings to reconcile their respective approved versions of the P5.268 trillion National Budget for 2023.
We urge our lawmakers to craft a national budget that leaves no Filipino behind and which focuses on investments in the regions and provinces because these will ultimately benefit the entire country.
In the past, allocations usually favored the National Capital Region (NCR) and other highly urbanized cities. That has to stop. The 2023 budget should be made instrumental in distributing growth more evenly across the country. We should make every effort to provide quality jobs all over the country and not just in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, and other urban centers. It’s time we replicate this growth in other regions.
Equity is an essential element of genuine progress. Equity is fairness. It is social justice. It is the key in providing opportunity for all Filipinos to fulfill their potential not just for themselves but for the benefit of the entire nation. There is no equity if Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities are the ones that are always favored in terms of the budget.
Corollary to this, the government must ensure that every barangay has electricity, water supply, internet connection, a good elementary and high school, and health center, thereby making rural life a real choice for a safe and comfortable life. Also, every province should have at least one good tertiary hospital. At present, there are provinces where people have to travel far to get good health services. All these need bigger funding.
Also, many Filipinos will be more willing to move to the countryside if they see the government seriously investing in water, electricity, internet connectivity, health, and education services across the country, as well as in agriculture and infrastructure. Projects like irrigation, farm-to-market roads, bridges, and others like these will pump-prime quality jobs in rural areas.
While the increase in the budget for farm-to-market roads increased from P7.485 billion in 2022 to P13.14 billion in 2023, is this enough especially when compared with the amounts our Asian neighbors are allotting for such infrastructure? Thailand has completed 47,916 kilometers of farm-to-market roads while Vietnam has done 175,000 kilometers — a far cry from the Philippines’ 2,712 kilometers.
It is also suggested that the distribution of projects should be throughout the country; this will help ease congestion in the NCR and other urban centers. If we want a long-term solution to decongest Metro Manila andother urban centers, the government must bring growth to the countryside. Of course, the government must be willing to allot more budget to the countryside.
