BEYOND BUDGET
(Part 3)
Assalamu alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
Last week, I expounded on four different areas where the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will pour the people’s money next year to achieve our agenda for prosperity, and secure a future-ready and sustainable economy. In line with the President's Eight-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, we want every Filipino to have a sufficient and sustainable food supply, affordable transportation, electricity and power, and a better healthcare system.
This week, let me continue discussing four more areas which will be addressed by the FY 2024 national budget, for our economy to thrive and for our countrymen to experience quality of life. These are: addressing learning efficiency and social protection, institutionalizing bureaucratic efficiency, and ensuring sound fiscal management.
Foremost is education, which remains the government's top priority as enshrined in our constitution. The PBBM administration is concentrating its efforts on recouping learning losses inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic and investing more significantly in human capital development.
As such, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Program will receive a total allocation of ₱51.12 billion, composed of ₱26.01 billion for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), ₱21.7 billion for 116 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), and ₱3.41 billion for the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
Education assistance and subsidies was allocated ₱41 billion, with the Department of Education (DepEd) receiving ₱39.3 billion for its various programs, CHED with ₱1.5 billion for Student Financial Assistance Programs, and TESDA ₱200 million for its Private Education Student Financial Assistance Program.
DepEd's Basic Education Facilities Program will receive a ₱33.8 billion allocation for new classrooms, technical-vocational laboratories, and infrastructure projects. SUCs will receive ₱3.42 billion for infrastructure projects. The education agenda includes ₱12 billion for textbooks and instructional materials, ₱3.9 billion for learning tools and equipment, and ₱8.9 billion for the Department Computerization Program, including eLearning packages and other ICT equipment for the MATATAG Center. The ₱11.7 billion for the School-Based Feeding Program will provide hot meals and milk for underweight learners, while the ₱632 million for the alternative learning system will support education, employment, and entrepreneurship for out-of-school youth 15 years old and above.
Parallel to these efforts, the government is increasing social protection measures to ensure that no one is left behind. The Department of Social Welfare and Development's (DSWD's) 4Ps Program will receive a higher allocation of ₱112.84 billion for education and health grants, as well as rice subsidies for 4.4 million households. The Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens will be doubled to ₱49.81 billion to increase the monthly allowance of over four million indigent senior citizens. Protective services for individuals and families in difficult circumstances will receive ₱19.97 billion, while the Sustainable Livelihood Program will receive ₱5.62 billion.
The ₱4.08 billion allotted to the Supplementary Feeding Program will provide hot meals to two million children in LGU-managed child development centers and supervised neighborhood play, while the Department of Health-DSWD Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project will receive ₱2.76 billion to implement nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions to reduce stunting in 235 municipalities. Further, DSWD will get ₱1.89 billion for the Philippine Food Strategic Transfer and Alternative Measures Program to address involuntary hunger and malnutrition among Filipino families.
The Water Supply and Sanitation Program, another indispensable program, will receive ₱364.43 million. Additionally, to provide affordable housing for Filipino families, the administration has initiated the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department's Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program will receive ₱16.4 billion, with the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers Program receiving ₱12.92 billion. To assist forcibly repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers, the Overseas Worker Welfare Administration's Emergency Repatriation Program will have a budget of ₱9.7 billion.
To ensure sound fiscal management, the government is investing in information systems to support oversight and collection agencies, in line with Executive Order No. 29 on the adoption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System. ₱2.92 billion will be allocated to improve the information systems of the Bureau of Internal Revenue for efficient revenue collection.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Treasury's Treasury Single Account will be supported with ₱560 million for consolidation and optimal utilization of government cash resources and its National Indemnity Insurance Program, to be provided with ₱2 billion to immediately build back strategically important and critical government assets, including schools. Aside from this, the Department of Budget and Management was allocated ₱390 million to continue our Public Financial Management Program, including the Budget and Treasury Management System.
To enhance bureaucratic efficiency, the government will allocate ₱1.61 billion to support the Philippine Identification System to fast-track the issuance of the national ID, and ₱145.53 million for the implementation of the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act. Furthermore, the Department of Foreign Affairs will receive a higher allocation of ₱8.08 billion for its digitalization initiatives, including a higher allocation of ₱4.06 billion for the ePassport and ₱54.67 million for the eApostille System. The Bureau of Immigration will receive ₱1.98 billion to expand E-Gates at international ports of entry and exit. Other digitalization initiatives include the Land Registration Authority's Unified Cloud-Based Information System and Queueing Management System and the National Bureau of Investigation's Clearance Processing and Issuance System.
Beyond budget, the PBBM administration strives for a future that offers an improved quality of life for all Filipinos. Thus, our proposed national budget will continue to invest heavily on education, human capital development, and social protection, as well as enhancing the efficiency of basic service delivery, especially by digitally transforming its systems, processes, and procedures and implementing sound financial management practices. We believe that it is in nurturing our people and providing them with access to basic necessities that we are fostering a healthy economy that allows our people to live quality, productive lives.
(Amenah F. Pangandaman is the current Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management.)