HOUSE Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez on Thursday lauded President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte for signing into law the P5.024 trillion national budget for 2022.

Romualdez, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) president, said the national budget is a good weapon to continue the fight against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and recovery efforts following the devastation of Super Typhoon Odette.

“The 2022 national budget reflects the Duterte administration’s determination to shield the Filipino people from the devastating effects of the global pandemic without abandoning its intention to continue paving the road for full economic recovery,” Romualdez said.

“Our spending plan is clear on its mission: save precious lives, protect the health of everyone, generate jobs and livelihood opportunities, and pump prime the economy to full recovery,” Romualdez said.

“We, in Congress, extend our deep appreciation to President Duterte for guiding us to the right path. With the 2022 General Appropriations Act, we are confident that we have done our part in helping realize the President’s vision of a Filipino nation that offers better living condition for its people,” Romualdez added.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said “we sincerely thank President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for signing into law the P5.024-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2022, the extension of the 2021 GAA until December 31, 2022, and the establishment of the Department of Migrant Workers.”

“We are extremely glad that we finally have a law creating a department that is solely focused on addressing the needs and protecting the welfare and interests of our overseas Filipino workers.

This long overdue legislation reflects our appreciation and gratitude for their sacrifices and valuable contribution to the country’s economic growth,” Velasco said.

“Both the 2021 and 2022 national budgets are the most important policy instruments of our government as we begin to navigate a path to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis next year. The 2022 GAA includes a host of spending initiatives that will help sustain our efforts to beat COVID-19. It provides funding for the benefits and compensation of health care workers, procurement of coronavirus booster shots, emergency hiring of medical frontliners, and other programs aimed to fight the effects of the pandemic,” Velasco said.

“We also thank our collegues in both chambers of Congress for coming together to ensure that key programs which are vital to our economic recovery and our continued efforts against the pandemic get sufficient funding. All these will help immensely in providing us the momentum to get the country back to its feet in the coming year,” Velasco ended.

Duterte signed the 2022 national budget in a ceremony at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang, which was witnessed by select members of the House of Representatives, including Romualdez and Senate.

Under the next year’s P5.024 trillion national budget, it is significantly higher by 11.5 percent than this year’s P4.5 trillion national budget.

According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), P6 billion out of the P10 billion funds pledged by Duterte for the recovery of typhoon-hit areas in Visayas and Mindanao would be sourced from the 2022 national budget.

Duterte said in his speech that the passage of the 2022 national budget reaffirms the government’s strong commitment to providing “a more comfortable and productive life for each Filipino.”

“This will also cement this administration’s legacy of real change for future generations guided by the three main pillars of building resiliency amidst the pandemic, sustaining the momentum towards recovery, and continuing the legacy of infrastructure development,” he said.