MANILA, Philippines (3rd Update) – With a 219-22 vote, the House of Representatives on Tuesday, October 22, approved on 3rd and final reading the proposed P2.268 trillion budget for 2014, an amount that is the same as what Malacañang proposed.
The 2014 General Appropriations Bill (GAB) now awaits the approval of the Senate.
Once the proposed budget hurdles the upper chamber, it will move to the bicameral conference committee, which will reconcile conflicting provisions from the House and Senate versions. The budget will then be ratified by both chambers of Congress before it can be signed into law by the President.
Deliberations on the proposed 2014 budget were conducted at the height of scandals regarding the alleged misuse of billions worth of lawmakers’ funds. (READ: P6.8B PDAF misused; 192 solons tagged)
Before the proposed bill was approved on committee level, House members arrived at a consensus to realign their controversial P25.2-billion Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) to 6 line agencies. (READ: Scholars, patients? DepEd, DOH get least of realigned PDAF).
Due to the changes, lawmakers may only issue “recommendations” to the concerned departments for their constituents on “soft projects” such as scholarships and healthcare.
For “hard projects” such as infrastructure, lawmakers were required to submit their proposed projects with a cap of P24.5 million each. These projects were included as line items in the budget. (READ: New ‘pork’ rule: P24.M maximum infra per solon)
Meanwhile, the House retained lump sum appropriations for the Office of the President, including the calamity fund.
Before voting commenced, Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco complained that lawmakers only received their copies of the 2014 budget on the day of the voting.
Tiangco said he wanted more time to examine the bill, which is composed of 3 books and more than 1,000 pages. Some solons had proposed changes to undisclosed items following the earthquake in Bohol and Cebu.
He was overruled. House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said it had been the practice of Congress to pass the budget as soon as solons received a copy of the bill, which was always certified as urgent by the President.
In an interview after the budget was passed, Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr said he believes 95% of the GAB was already included in the National Expenditure Program, the original proposal of the executive branch for the 2014 budget, and this has already undergone enough considerations during the budget deliberations.
Budget allocations
The top 3 largest allocations went to the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
DepEd is set to receive a budget of P281.752 billion for 2014. Copies of the 2014 GAB distributed to House members show the amount is the same as Malacañang’s original proposal despite the allocation of additional P1.26 billion from the realigned PDAF.
DPWH will get P207.322 billion, up from P200.266 billion while DILG will receive P100.183 billion, up from P99.595 billion.
Here’s a summary of the changes to the proposed budget:
|
AGENCIES |
National Expenditure Program figures |
General Appropriation Bill figures |
|---|---|---|
|
Department allocation |
||
|
Congress of the Philippines |
10,021,591,000 |
10,021,592,000 |
|
Office of the President |
2,790,665,000 |
2,790,665,000 |
|
Office of the Vice President |
417,296,000 |
217,296,000 |
|
Department of Agrarian Reform |
20,002,768,000 |
20,002,768,000 |
|
Department of Agriculture |
69,473,867,000 |
68,576,751,000 |
|
Dept of Budget and Management |
963,760,000 |
997,494,000 |
|
Department of Education |
281,751,791,000 |
281,751,791,000 |
|
State Universities and Colleges |
32,770,703,000 |
34,650,625,000 |
|
Department of Energy |
3,259,376,000 |
3,259,376,000 |
|
Department of Envi & Natural Resources |
19,833,652,000 |
23,359,621,000 |
|
Department of Finance |
11,223,094,000 |
11,387,941,000 |
|
Department of Foreign Affairs |
12,113,738,000 |
12,113,738,000 |
|
Department of Health |
69,892,986,000 |
85,123,939,000 |
|
Department of Interior and Loc Govt |
99,595,064,000 |
100,183,030,000 |
|
Department of Justice |
10,693,658,000 |
10,693,658,000 |
|
Department of Labor and Employment |
10,132,033,000 |
13,423,273,000 |
|
Department of National Defense |
82,195,121,000 |
82,195,121,000 |
|
Department of Public Works & Highways |
200,265,553,000 |
207,321,553,000 |
|
Department of Science and Tech |
12,023,315,000 |
12,023,315,000 |
|
Department of Social Welfare & Development |
78,876,694,000 |
84,540,929,000 |
|
Department of Tourism |
1,994,061,000 |
1,994,061,000 |
|
Department of Trade and Industry |
4,401,338,000 |
4,401,338,000 |
|
Department of Transportation and Communication |
40,703,309,000 |
45,161,306,000 |
|
National Economic and Developmentt Authority |
3,904,430,000 |
3,904,430,000 |
|
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao |
19,615,029,000 |
19,615,029,000 |
|
Joint Legilative-Executive Council |
4,167,000 |
4,167,000 |
|
Presidential Communication Operations office |
1,128,359,000 |
1,128,359,000 |
|
Other Executive Offices |
9,611,595,000 |
14,949,595,000 |
|
The Judiciary |
18,359,805,000 |
18,462,816,000 |
|
Civil Service Commission |
1,213,353,000 |
1,213,353,000 |
|
Commission on Audit |
7,969,497,000 |
7,969,497,000 |
|
COMELEC |
2,735,051,000 |
2,735,321,000 |
|
Office of the Ombudsman |
1,732,334,000 |
1,732,334,000 |
|
Commission on Human Rights |
326,923,000 |
326,923,000 |
|
SPECIAL PURPOSE FUNDS |
||
|
Budgetary Support to Gov’t Corp |
||
|
Department of Agriculture |
9,681,388,000 |
9,681,388,000 |
|
Department of Energy |
9,675,800,000 |
9,675,800,000 |
|
Department of Finance |
2,792,340,000 |
2,792,340,000 |
|
Department of Health |
1,129,200,000 |
1,129,200,000 |
|
Department of Public Works and Highways |
565,000,000 |
565,000,000 |
|
Department of Tourism |
500,000,000 |
500,000,000 |
|
Department of Trade and Industry |
459,310,000 |
271,443,000 |
|
Department of Transportation and Comm |
344,000,000 |
344,000,000 |
|
National Economic Development Authority |
346,806,000 |
346,806,000 |
|
Presidential Comm Operations Office |
859,190,000 |
859,190,000 |
|
Other Executive Offices |
19,531,724,000 |
19,531,724,000 |
|
BSGC- Others |
13,606,000 |
13,606,000 |
|
Allocations to Local Gov’t Units |
19,705,022,000 |
19,177,219,000 |
|
Calamity Fund |
7,500,000,000 |
7,500,000,000 |
|
Contigent Fund |
1,000,000,000 |
1,000,000,000 |
|
Dep-Ed – School building program |
1,000,000,000 |
1,000,000,000 |
|
E-Gov’t Fund |
2,478,900,000 |
2,478,900,000 |
|
International Commitments Fund |
4,815,644,000 |
4,815,644,000 |
|
Misellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund |
80,713,614,000 |
81,061,608,000 |
|
Pension and Gratuity Fund |
12,049,595,2000 |
120,495,000,000 |
|
Priority Development Assistance Fund |
25,240,000,000 |
|
|
Feasibility Studies Fund |
400,000,000 |
400,000,000 |
|
Unprogrammed Fund |
139,903,759,000 |
139,903,759,000 |
|
Automatic Appropriation |
796,029,175,000 |
|
|
Debt-Servicing |
440,931,000,000 |
– Rappler.com
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