By BEN ROSARIO
Stressing that next year’s P4.506-trillion General Appropriations Bill is the most important budget measure in Congress history, the chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations appealed for the swift passage of the measure as the House of Representatives launched the plenary debates on the legislative proposal.
ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap delivered the lone sponsorship speech for House Bill (HB) 7727 or the proposed General Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021 but aired a strong conviction that a huge majority of the 299-member House will approve the measure on time.
“The timely passage of the General Appropriations Bill will ensure that our government, through its programs and projects, will be able to rebound, reset, and recover our lost momentum amidst the impact of the pandemic from COVID-19 to our country, our economy, and our people,” said Yap.
Yap agreed with President Duterte in his declaration that the 2021 proposed national appropriation is “crucial to our recovery as a nation.”
“The budget for 2021 is an investment for our nation’s resiliency and sustainability. This objective has been embodied in every strand of House Bill No. 7727 which we shall tackle starting today,” the party-list solon stated.
Salient among the provisions of the budget is the fact that government stresses its belief that education should remain the priority of the Duterte government.
A total of P754.4 billion has been proposed for the 2021 programs and operations of the Department of Education (DepEd), State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Commission on Higher and Technical Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).
“We stand along with the budget philosophy of this administration that more than our priorities for a responsive and dynamic governance, we have to focus our resources to the most urgent priority – to reset our momentum and action, rebound from the devastating effects of the pandemic on the health and economy, and fully recover from current and continuing impacts of the crisis,” Yap said.
Addressing the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic and at the same time trying to cub the incidence of poverty that was made worse by the public health danger is also vital for 2021.
“At this time of great uncertainty, we must perform our mandate as the Representatives of the Filipino People with strength, determination, and urgency,” the ACT-CIS partylist solon stated.
“This budget assures our people that social service for the poorest of the poor will be delivered and uplift the living condition of our people as a foundation of humane society,” he said.
In parting, Yap stressed that the proposed budget is not for lawmakers of Congress but for the “poorest of Filipinos” who have received the most adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A total 299 House members answered the roll call as regular session resumed Thursday morning.
HB 7727 contained an exact replica of the proposed National Expenditure Program submitted by government.
Of the proposed P4.506-trillion proposed budget, a total of P3.263 trillion will be used for 2021 operations and programs of the government. Of this amount, P3.087 trillion has been programmed as new appropriations while P176 billion is unprogrammed.
