MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III on Monday, July 6, approved the P3.002 trillion proposed national budget for 2016.

The amount, which is 15.2% higher than the P2.6 trillion allotment in 2015, is the highest budget proposed under the Aquino administration.

The proposed 2016 budget will be submitted to Congress a day after Aquino’s final State of the Nation Address on July 27.

The proposed budget comprises 19.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product

As mandated by the 1987 Constitution, the Department of Education (DepEd) gets the biggest chunk of the budget with P436.5 billion. 

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of National Defense got the next biggest proposed budget, with P401.14 billion and P172 billion, respectively.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government follows next with P156 billion, the Department of Health (DoH) with P128.5 billion, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development with P107.6 billion.

The DPWH and the DOH received the highest increase in allocation for 2016. DPWH’s budget increased by 32% to boost public infrastructure and economic expansion while DOH’s budget is up by 25.5% to improve health care services.

In last month’s DPWH anniversary, the President, however, said the agency will receive around P600 billion in 2016, saying he is confident he will see actual results. (READ: ‘Role model’ DPWH to get P600B in 2016)

Since 2010, all yearly national allocations are signed into law before the year ends. – Rappler.com