Solons hold marathon plenary debates for 2023 nat’l budget
THE Senate has been holding marathon plenary debates on the proposed national budget for next year, which totals P5.268 trillion, wherein each senator will either defend or question the figure allotted to each and every department for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.
Senator Deputy Majority Leader Mark Villar, on Thursday, November 10, 2022, moves that the P8.96 billion proposed 2023 budget of the Office of the President (OP) be deemed submitted for the upper chamber’s approval. No senator objected to Villar’s motion, prompting the approval of the OP budget.
Sen. Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, earlier defended the proposed budget of the OP, including its P4.5 billion intelligence and confidential funds that were earlier questioned by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel.
Meanwhile, Sen. Robin Padilla inquires about the government implementation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s (BARMM) fiscal capacity.
During the plenary debates, Padilla stressed that the BOL (Bangsamoro Organic Law) created the intergovernmental Fiscal Policy Board (IFPB) to regularly review revenue imbalances and changes in the region’s financial needs, including the annual block grant prescribed by law.
He asked the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as head of the IFPB for its report and legislative recommendations to help boost BARMM’s fiscal capacity so that, more than anything else, it could generate its own revenue to fund its development programs and projects for the Moro people.
For his part, Sen. Francis Tolentino seeks clarification from the country’s managers as to why the National Capital Region (NCR) always gets the biggest share of the national budget amid efforts to reduce the gap between the various regions.
Tolentino said that based on the regional allocation of the expenditure program for 2023, Metro Manila is set to receive the highest allocation of the expenditure program 2023; Metro Manila is set to receive the highest allocation representing 18.8 percent of the P5.286 total budget, amounting to almost P989 billion.
Angara, who defended the budget, explained that one of the major factors is personnel services since most of the central offices of the government are located in the NCR.
