Education, infrastructure get bulk of proposed 2019 budget
By TED CORDERO, GMA News
Education and infrastructure remain the top spending priority of the Duterte administration under the proposed P3.757-trillion national budget for 2019, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) revealed on Friday.
The 2019 general appropriations would be the first cash-based budget of the government, with one year validity and a three-month extension after the fiscal year for agencies to settle payments for the goods and services delivered.
The third budget crafted under President Rodrigo Duterte gives the education sector—comprising the Department of Education, State Universities and Colleges, Commission on Higher Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority—the largest share of P659.3 billion, up 12.3 percent or P72.2 billion from its cash-based equivalent of P587.1 billion under the 2018 budget.
The Department of Public Works and Highways gets the second largest allocation of P555.7 billion, up 68.3 percent or P225.5 billion.
“We are sticking to our plan of focusing on Build Build Build and social services,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
“These are the priorities we identified as early as the beginning of our term, and we will see to it that investments in these sectors are sustained,” Diokno said.
The Department of Interior and Local Government is getting the third largest allocation of P225.6 billion, up 30.9 percent or P53.3 billion.
The bigger allocations are supposed to strengthen local governance and support the public safety initiatives of the government, the DBM said.
The 2019 general appropriations would be the first cash-based budget of the government, with one year validity and a three-month extension after the fiscal year for agencies to settle payments for the goods and services delivered.
READ: PROPOSED 2019 NATIONAL BUDGET
The third budget crafted under President Rodrigo Duterte gives the education sector—comprising the Department of Education, State Universities and Colleges, Commission on Higher Education, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority—the largest share of P659.3 billion, up 12.3 percent or P72.2 billion from its cash-based equivalent of P587.1 billion under the 2018 budget.
The Department of Public Works and Highways gets the second largest allocation of P555.7 billion, up 68.3 percent or P225.5 billion.
“We are sticking to our plan of focusing on Build Build Build and social services,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
“These are the priorities we identified as early as the beginning of our term, and we will see to it that investments in these sectors are sustained,” Diokno said.
The Department of Interior and Local Government is getting the third largest allocation of P225.6 billion, up 30.9 percent or P53.3 billion.
The bigger allocations are supposed to strengthen local governance and support the public safety initiatives of the government, the DBM said.