THE SENATE recently wound up its deliberations on the proposed 2023 national budget, which is the first under the new administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr. We have ensured that our Committee’s proposal aligns with the administration’s major thrusts—the foremost of which include boosting growth, cutting poverty, trimming our yawning deficit, paring down our debt, and catapulting the country to the league of upper middle-income nations.
In the years that I defended the country’s annual expenditure plan, I have come to distill some of the factors that shape annual appropriations into 4 Ps. The first is “population.” As it grows, so must the budget. The second relates to “prices.” Inflation spikes operating expenses of the government. But the budget must also help people cope with the rising cost of living. Third refers to “projects.” We have an infrastructure deficit in the trillions of pesos. And for us to grow, given that crumbling infrastructure don’t help attract investments, it is imperative to hike capital outlays yearly. And the fourth is “payroll” or personnel services, which includes the pension of retired uniformed personnel.
Macropolitical and other exigent conditions can also cause tectonic shifts in our fiscal positions. Some like calamities, manmade and natural, often butt in in the middle of the budget season unannounced, leaving bills which put a squeeze into an already tight budget. For next year, we can call these the three other Ps—Pandemic, Putin, and Paeng.
Our economy remains debilitated by the effects of long COVID. Although we have installed springboards for recovery, the takeoff is not yet in the desired velocity that will propel us past the damages of the pandemic. Then there is the war in Ukraine, which has not spared us from the fallout of fuel, food, and fertilizer crises. And because we are geographically unlucky, natural disasters have become a constant factor in budgeting—joining the likes of inflation as an assumption
With all these and more in mind, we ensured ample funding will be provided to the government’s social protection programs, especially those that target the hardest hit of Filipino families. These include more than P110 billion for the ongoing conditional cash transfer program, more commonly known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Augmentations were also made to the Protective Services for Individuals and Families (PSIF) in Difficult Circumstances of the DSWD and its other programs where food assistance, food packs, emergency transportation, medical, burial assistance, and other forms of ayuda are given out. Support was also provided to the livelihood programs of the DOLE such as the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displacked Workers (TUPAD) program.
To help stave off the effects of high gasoline prices, funding was assured under the DOTr for fuel vouchers for owners and operators of public utility vehicles (PUVs), taxis, tricycles and ride-hailing services, and under the DA for fuel assistance to farmers and fisherfolk.
Recent natural disasters like Typhoon Paeng have also underscored the need to prepare. Hence, our Committee increased appropriations proposed for the Quick Response Funds (QRFs) of select departments, and kept intact the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund (NDRRMF). We also affirmed the funding provided to the National Housing Authority for its housing assistance program for calamity victims.
With the return to face-to-face classes, we continued to make it easier for students to enroll through significant student financial assistance programs and scholarships of the government. This includes up to P54.46 billion for tuition under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education (UAQTEA) program under all State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), CHED, and TESDA. Educational voucher programs for senior and junior high school programs, including assistance to students in private schools will also continue.
The committee has also taken steps to ensure that as the economy opens up, we continue to strengthen our healthcare system. For instance, we made sure that funds will be available for even more vaccines for COVID-19, possibly even for Monkeypox and other emerging diseases. Funds will also be available for the public health emergency benefits for first responders.
The work of building up our healthcare system should now resume in earnest. This is why with the help of Senator Pia Cayetano, we worked to provide funding support to operations of more than 30 DOH regional hospitals and health centers across the country. Indeed, under our watch, the DOH and its attached agencies is slated to receive next year the third highest allocation across all national government institutions.
It is crucial that decisive steps are taken to reinvigorate our economy. All of this calls for nothing less than smart budgeting. That is something we continue to work on — sometimes well into the early hours of the morning—at the Senate.
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Sen. Sonny Angara has been in public service for 18 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 9 as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.
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Email: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara/PN
