MANILA, August 6, 2012-Senator Franklin M Drilon is confident that the proposed P2.006-trillion 2013 national budget will address the top growth restrictions identified by the National Economic Development Board (NEDA) in order to achieve the projected 6-7 percent growth rate for the next several years.
At a Development Budget Coordination Council (DBCC) briefing for the Senators on the proposed budget, the NEDA identified five critical areas hampering the country’s growth: slow infrastructure developments, human capital development, institution of governance, agricultural productivity and strengthening manufacturing and industry.
The Senator, who chairs the Senate Finance that reviews the country’s proposed expenditures, said these bottlenecks must be addressed to catch up with the neighboring countries’ robust economic conditions.
The country’s 2012 first quarter growth of 6.4 percent is the highest in the region except for China, gaining praises from a number of senators present in the hearing who expressed satisfaction for the way the economy has been managed for the past one year, noted Drilon.
Drilon cited, in particular, the slow implementation of government’s infrastructure projects will be addressed by allowing the pre-bidding process to take place, short of awards, through the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
“In order to meet the requirements of the law and address the need to accelerate infrastructure, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) would now bid out projects based on the NEP. All infrastructure projects should be bidded out by December this year, so that come January 1, awarding of bids will be made on the basis of the approved General Appropriations Act,” said Drilon.
“In this manner, we will be able to commence these projects during summer months, and more importantly, we don’t want to be caught in the ban of awards of infrastructure projects because of the elections in 2013,” added Drilon.
The DPWH is allotted with P152.9 billion in 2013 to build roads, bridges, ports and airports, noted Drilon.
Meanwhile, to improve human capital, Drilon said, strategic investment in education and health are taken into considerations in crating the 2013 budget. The social services sector has the highest allocation of P698.4 billion.
The Department of Education (DepEd) will get P292.7 billion allocation – the highest in the entire bureaucracy. The Department of Health will have a budget of P56.8 billion, while the Department of Social Welfare and Development is provided with P56.2 billion allocation.
“All of these would now address this need to develop our human capital and to address the inadequacy in our investment in our people where we lagged behind in terms of our educational attainment and in preparing our youth for the future,” stressed Drilon.
Drilon also pointed out that the policy of the government is to emphasize transparency, strengthen anti-corruption drive, and continuously address red tape.
On the agricultural productivity, the 2013 budget provides for enough funding to support agriculture, particularly to construct irrigation, farm-to-market roads, post-harvest facilities. The Department of Agriculture is the 5th highest funded department with P74.1 billion in 2013.
“There is need to support agriculture in order that we can lower the cost of food. This can only be achieved in terms of agricultural productivity. Second is that agriculture is essential because food security is critical to our country,” explained Drilon.
Finally, Drilon said manufacturing and industry will be improved through investments in infrastructure and by encouraging participation by the private sector through Publi-Private Partnership programs
The proposed P2.006 trillion 2013 national budget is 10.5 percent higher than the P1.816 trillion budget this year, and represents 16.8 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, said Drilon.
“The government intends to bring down the deficit to two percent of GDP, equivalent to P241 billion, in 2013 from its current target of 2.6 percent or P279.1 billion, to create a robust and sustainable fiscal space,” he added.
On the other hand, the government’s disbursement capacity in 2013 is pegged at P2,021.1 trillion from its current target of P1,839.7 trillion, and it will be funded by the P1,780.1 trillion proposed revenues from its current target of P1,560.6 trillion.
In addition, government owned and controlled corporations have been provided with P29.8 billion subsidy from current’s P11 billion.
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