MANILA – “About P3.130 trillion or 85.5% of the P3.663 trillion obligation programs for fiscal year 2019 has been released as of the end of June,” the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.
“Of the P3.130-trillion released, P1.882 trillion were for allotments released to line departments, which include funds allocated for agencies in the Executive branch, Congress, the Judiciary, and other constitutional offices,” the DBM said.
“In addition, fund released from Special Purpose Funds (SPFs) amounted to P159.8 billion,” the DBM said in a statement released over the weekend.
SPFs are budgetary allocations in the General Appropriations Act allocated for specific socio-economic purposes such as Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, Allocation to Local Government Units, Contingent Fund, Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and Pension and Gratuity Fund.
“The immediate release of funds by the DBM ensures that national government agencies are able to swiftly implement their programs and projects, such as the construction of new roads, schools, and hospitals, and the protection and promotion of the welfare of the poor and marginalized sectors, among others,” the budget department said.
For automatic appropriation, allotment releases amounted to P1.055 trillion, or 98.4% of the program for automatic appropriations.
“Said release includes 100% of the fiscal year 2019 program for the Retirement and Life Insurance Program, Internal Revenue Allotment, Pension of ex-president/ex-president widows, net lending, and interest payments,” the DBM said.
Automatic appropriations refer to appropriations programmed annually or for some other period prescribed by law.
The DBM noted it has also released P8.4 billion as of the end of June from the continuing appropriations of the 2018 budget, comprising releases for line departments and releases from SPFs.
Continuing appropriations refer to appropriations available to support obligations for a specified purpose or project, such as multi-year construction projects which require the incurrence of obligations beyond one fiscal year.
Unprogrammed appropriations in the amount of P24.1 billion have been released for the foreign-assisted projects of the Department of Transportation, and for the payment of pension adjustments of military and uniformed personnel under the Armed Forces of the Philippines – General Headquarters, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
An unprogrammed appropriation is a standby appropriation that authorizes additional agency expenditures for priority programs and projects when revenue collections exceed the resource targets or when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.
Allotments for other automatic appropriations, amounting to P1.2 billion, have also been released, the DBM said. (GMA News)
