House approves 13.767-trillion national budget for 2018
After less than a week of plenary deliberations, the House of Representatives approved last night on second reading the proposed 13.767-trillion national budget, the first full year allocation of the Duterte admin-
istration.
Weathering the storm that caused the suspension of work in both private and public offices, at least 236 congressmen voted on ayes and nays for the approval of House Bill 6215 or the Fiscal Year 2018 General Appropriations Act. (GAA)
Earlier, President Duterte certified HR 6215 as an urgent administration measure, saying that immediate enactment is needed to “address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year” and ensure “budgetary preparedness that will enable government to effectively perform its constitutional mandate.”
Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas said the appropriations measure will be presented for third reading upon the availability of the complete and final printed copies of the measure.
Congressmen also approved the creation of a small committee to receive and resolve individual amendments to the budget measure, with the deadline of submission set for September 15.
No committee amendment was presented in the budget measure that, for the first time, granted a meager P1,000 annual budget each for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP), and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
House Minority Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez did not offer any opposition to the budget bill but called on government agencies to fully utilize their respective allocations.
“We have noticed increases in the budget for agencies with low utilization rate. During the deliberations, we sought the commitment of the agencies to improve budget spending, but it seems that the problem of underspending is deeply rooted to corruption, bureaucracy, lack of monitoring, and the ineffectual procurement process,” Suarez said.
The opposition lawmaker also called for “an active oversight committee to monitor and ensure adherence” by government agencies of their commitments to carry out their programs.
The proposed 2018 GAA rose by 12.4 percent from the current budget of P3.35 trillion and represents 21.6 percent of the gross domestic product.
Under the proposal, social services will get P1.4 trillion or 37.8 percent of the proposed budget which represent over half of the allocation. Primary in the sharing is education and manpower development.
Economic services get the second highest share at P1.2 trillion or 30.6 percent.
The Duterte government has sought strong budget support for its “build, build, build program,” thus allocating P648.3 billion for communications, road and transport, an increase of 37.2 from the current budget.
Prior to the second reading vote, a total 119 congressmen voting in the affirmative, slashed the proposed budget of the CHR to P1,000 from a proposed P678 million for 2018.
The Lower House also approved another P1,000 budget for the NCIP and the ERC which have sought P1.323 billion and P365 million allocation for 2018, respectively.
A total 32 lawmakers led by Reps. Lito Atienza (Buhay Partylist), Edcel Lagman (LP, Albay) and Raul del Mar (Independent, Cebu) rejected the motion to practically abolish the constitutional body as sought by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who had assailed the CHR for standing in the way of the Duterte administration’s bloody anti-illegal drug war.
SAGIP Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta presented the motion to give CHR a meager P1,000 budget next year, citing the agency’s alleged failure to address the human rights violations purportedly committed against the 44 Special Action Force operatives who were killed during the Mamasapano gunbattle in 2014.
Deputy Speaker and Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson, who presided over the budget deliberations, had previously declared Marcoleta’s motion approved during an ayes and nays vote but this was later affirmed in a division that required solons to rise for their choice.