Angara

Solons to focus on 2023 GAA passage

November 9, 2022 PS Jun M. Sarmiento 329 views

SENATOR Edgardo Sonny Angara, the chairperson of the Committee on Finance, sponsored House Bill no. 4488 under Committee report No. 10 or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the Fiscal Year 2023.

During the plenary session, Angara presented the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget after weeks of marathon committee hearings. In his sponsorship speech, Angara said the 2023 national budget will be a reflection of the new administration’s thrust.

“To boost growth, to cut poverty, to trim the deficit, to pare down debt, and to catapult us to the league of upper-middle-income nations,” Angara said.

He also emphasized that the 2023 national budget would address the country’s growing population, and rising prices of goods and services of the working government, among others.

Angara also pointed out that the 2023 national budget should provide much-needed relief to the adverse effects brought on by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It will be a great abdication of our duty if the Senate will be imperious to these developments and if we fail to adjust spending in a manner that is fiscally responsible,” Angara added.

Sen. Pia Cayetano co-sponsors what she described as a “future-proof” of the 2023 national budget using strategic foresight to help uphold intergenerational fairness.

Cayetano, the senior vice chairperson of the Committee on Finance, also expressed her readiness to provide support to agencies, particularly the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Education (DepEd), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), state colleges and universities, the cultural agencies, and the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP).

Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda, for her part, urges the need to support the budget for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) amounting to P20.48 billion and P49.223 billion for the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), which includes the budget of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA.

Legarda said the economic and social costs are further evidence of a shared fate. Agreeing on global rules and standards supports “consistency of information, helps promote effective practices, and forms the basis of shared understanding and mutual trust.”

Sen. Bong Go is also pushing for budget approval for DOH as committee chair in the Senate.

“As chairman of the Committee on Health, I commend the inclusion of an additional budget for the expansion and strengthening of epidemiology and surveillance systems of the Department of Health. I also thank our colleagues for supporting the additional budget for the Cancer Assistance Fund. I also note the additional funds given for the hiring of immunization vaccinators activities for the DOH to prevent potential outbreaks of various vaccine-preventable diseases. I also laud the additional budgets for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program and the Medical Assistance for indigent Patient Program,” Go said.

The plenary deliberation of the GAA will start on November 9, 2022.