Sen. Poe appeals for wise, timely use of national budget
Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday appealed for the "wisely and timely" use of the P4.5-trillion national budget for 2021.

As one of the vice chairpersons of the Senate finance committee, Poe stressed that "containing the pandemic, reviving the economy, and providing jobs for our people remain the greatest challenges in making the budget work."
"The impact of this allocation should trickle down to the Filipinos, especially those plunged into despair by the pandemic," she added.
President Durterte on Monday (Dec. 28) signed the 2021 General Appropriations Act, which aims to bankroll the government’s operations and sustain efforts to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulate economic recovery.
It includes a P72.5-billion appropriation for the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, P70 billion of which placed under the unprogrammed appropriations.
Education agencies are set to receive the lion's share of the national budget with a total of P751.7 billion, or 16.7 percent of the total.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will follow suit with P695.7 billion and P249.3 billion, respectively.
The Department of Health (DOH), the primary government agency responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, will receive P210.2 billion.
By sector, allocations for social services comprise the largest bulk of the budget, with P1.668 trillion; followed by economic services, with P1.323.1 trillion; general public services, with P747.8 trillion; debt burden, with P560.2 billion, and defense with P206.8 billion.
"The budget may not solve the economic crisis entirely, but it will certainly help us through it," Poe said.