MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has urged for the wise spending of the P4.1 trillion national budget for this year, which he signed at the Malacañang on Monday.
In a speech during the signing ceremony, President Duterte said that the budget, which is 11.8 percent more than last year’s P3.662 trillion budget, should not be used in corruption.
“The passage of the 2020 General Appropriations Act has proved the invaluable help of both houses of Congress. this government can effectively walk together with the enactment of key legislative measures that will support our development agenda in the next 2 and a half years,” Duterte said.
Duterte also lauded lawmakers for supporting this administration’s sound fiscal policies through the continued adoption of the cash-budgeting system and the full implementation of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program.
“Together, let us ensure every peso in the budget will never be used to support the selfish greed of the few, but spent exclusively for the benefit and the service of Filipino taxpayers,” Duterte said.
The highest allocation for the 2020 budget was given to the education sector at P673 billion followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (P534.3 billion), Department of the Interior and Local Government (P238 billion), Department of Social Welfare and Development (P195 billion), Department of National Defense (P189 billion).
The Department of Health (P166.5 billion), Department of Transportation (P147 billion), Department of Agriculture (56.8 billion), The Judiciary (P38.7 billion), and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (P26.4 billion) remians a priority for the Duterte administration’s 2020 budget./PN
