MANILA, Dec 24 -- President Benigno S. Aquino III yesterday signed the P2.606-trillion 2015 General Appropriations Act (GAA), marking the fifth consecutive year of the National Budget’s timely enactment and cementing the Administration’s spending program for rapid, long-term, and inclusive development.
The 2015 GAA—15.1 percent higher than the current year’s budget—also strengthens fiscal, development, and governance reforms already instituted by the Aquino administration, besides supporting the country’s unique requirements for post-disaster rehabilitation and climate change.
“We are at the doorstep of the Administration’s penultimate year, and the GAA duly reflects President Aquino’s development priorities for 2015. We’re pouring even more investments into the Administration’s anti-poverty and economic growth programs, as well as strengthening governance reforms we’ve helmed so far,” Budget and Management Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said.
“This GAA signing is likewise of historical note. Not since democracy was restored in 1986 has the government enacted the National Budget on time for five years straight. When the Administration began, our aim was to establish a tradition of promptness in the signing of the GAA, so that our agencies can also ensure the swift delivery of public goods and services. Now that we’ve entered our fifth year of enacting the budget on time, I can confidently say that we’ve succeeded in putting such a tradition in place,” he continued.
The 2015 budget also continues the Administration’s GAA-As-Release-Document regime, which the President—through the Department of Budget and Management—spearheaded in 2014. Under this regime, appropriations are considered released to agencies the very moment the budget is enacted, with the exception of specific conditional items.
The signing today of the 2015 GAA likewise brings the Administration to its second year of Performance-Informed budgeting, where an agency’s budget for the entire fiscal year is expected to support the accomplishment of specific targets, as outlined in a department’s Performance Information.
“We remain optimistic about our growth prospects in 2015, especially with this budget supporting the country’s development targets. It’s true that this year presented some formidable challenges that we had to reckon with, particularly with agency spending.
“Next year, however, we have good reason to expect better and more efficient expenditure, as departments adjust to the reforms we’ve set in place. Ultimately, our goal is to make the budget work for the people, so that it is an instrument of progress and citizen empowerment,” Abad said.
SECTORAL ALLOCATIONS
Social services are amply supported under the 2015 GAA, with major social welfare protection and development programs getting sizeable budgets for next year. The Administration’s flagship anti-poverty program, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), corners P62.3 billion in next year’s National Budget to address the needs of 4.3 million families in need.
Other major allocations under the 2015 GAA include P53.9 billion for Basic Education Facilities, which covers the respective construction and repair of 31,728 classrooms and 9,500 classrooms, as well as the development of 13,586 water and sanitation facilities, and the procurement of 1.3 million seats.
At the same time, Philhealth premium subsidies get P37.1 billion of the total budget to benefit 15.4 million poor and near-poor families, while P11 billion will be directed to socialized housing for in-need families, particularly those living in danger zones or high-risk areas.
Economic services are still a major driver in the President’s inclusive growth campaign, as the Administration devotes about 4 percent of the total budget to strategic infrastructure programs. Comprising this are P185.8 billion for the development of national roads and bridges, as well as P10.6 billion to improve the country’s railway systems (including the rehabilitation of LRT Lines 1 and 2 and subsidies to MRT 3), among others.
At the same time, P89.1 billion will go towards boosting agricultural production projects under the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies and various government-owned or -controlled corporations.
Various programs and projects for climate change adaptation and mitigation are a major focal point in the Administration’s development strategy. To this end, P14 billion has been devoted to the Calamity Fund—now known as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund—while another P6.7 billion has been tagged as Quick Response Funds. Meanwhile, the Aquino administration’s “Build Back Better” program—designed to address the recovery requirements in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda and other previous calamities—will get 21.7 billion for 2015. (DBM)