2024 budget one of the most responsive – Zubiri

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri considers the ₱5.768-trillion national budget for 2024 as one of the most responsive and progressive budgets of the country.

President Marcos approved the budget on Wednesday, Dec. 20, which he said prioritizes programs that advance social and economic transformation.

Zubiri said they could have made it a ₱6-trillion budget but they didn’t and kept it within a small margin from last year’s budget, knowing fully well that they want to curb the national debt.

He lauded the budget which increased funds for social services, such as the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/displaced Workers (TUPAD) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). He also said they increased funds for emergency response.

Defense budget

Zubiri also said they increased the budget for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Air Force, and the Philippine Army that will help protect the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the rest of the country.

“Sa security cluster umabot ng almost ₱10.2 billion ang nadagdag. (In the security cluster we added almost ₱10.2 billion). We’re buying three big ships for the Coast Guard, and ang plano po namin ni Presidente, kausap ko po ang Pangulo, ang plano po ay gawin na po natin ito dito sa Pilipinas (and I talked to the President, and our plan is to have it built in the country),” he said.

So, there’s an Australian company that builds Australian navy ships, Austal, which is based in Balamban, Cebu. They’re looking to be awarded this budget for ship construction. Para sa ganun, Pilipino na po ang gagawa ng barko na magdedepensa sa WPS (So, that Filipinos will be the ones building the ships that will defend WPS),” he added.

Bigger budget for infrastructure

Zubiri quipped that based on the body language of Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, nothing was vetoed in the budget.

“Kung mayroon, wala namang significance (If there is, there’s no significance),” he said. “So, ang kagandahan nito, malaki ang nilagay din po natin dito para sa imprastraktura. Nandito na rin yung pondo para sa tulay connecting Cavite and Bataan, nandito na rin po ang pondo para madagdagan ang tulay papunta ng Iloilo, Guimaras, and Negros (What’s great here is, we allocated a big budget for infrastructure. This includes the funds for the bridge connecting Cavite and Bataan, funds for additional bridges to Iloilo, Guimaras and Negros).”

He added that there will be massive landmark infrastructure projects that would be the landmark projects of the President.