THE House of Representatives is set to start today, Monday, deliberations on the P6.352-trillion 2025 national budget President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. has proposed to Congress.
First to face the House are four members of the President’s economic team who comprise the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).
They are expected to be welcomed at the Plenary by Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co, who is appropriations committee chairman.
The four are Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Gov. Eli Remolona Jr.
The four will brief House members on the state of the country’s economy and the macro-economic assumptions used in putting together the proposed 2024 spending program.
Speaker Romualdez said he and his colleagues would like to know from the administration’s economic managers “how the country could sustain its economic growth and how such growth could benefit our people.”
“Our economic expansion, projected by multi-lateral financial institutions at between 5.9-6.2 percent next year, should be felt by our people, especially the poor, in terms of more job and income opportunities, more affordable food on their table and lower consumer prices,” he said.
He said many of the poor complain that the economic boom is benefitting only the rich, the big companies, and stock and financial market investors.
“They say they cannot eat economic growth. If majority of our people do not feel our economic expansion, they should at least see it in terms of the proper use of the national budget for social services, education, health, infrastructure, and direct financial assistance to the poor and other vulnerable sectors,” he stressed.
The leader of the 300-plus-strong House of Representatives added that he would like to see increased allocations for these services and pro-poor programs.
“Maybe, we cannot get all the data from our resource persons tomorrow, but this is a forewarning to all agency heads who will be asked to attend our hearings: they should better be prepared when it is their turn to face us,” he said.
On Tuesday, officials of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will brief the committee on appropriations on their operations.
The two agencies are major contributors to the national treasury, along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development will be on deck on Wednesday.
It will be the turn of the Department of Energy, Commission on Higher Education and Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday.
The appropriations committee will conduct hearings up to Sept. 9.
Speaker Romualdez earlier said the House would approve the President’s budget proposal before Congress goes on recess later next month.
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