In the Post-State of the Nation Address (SONA) press conference held yesterday at the ASEAN Theater and Auditorium, Philippine Information Agency, Quezon City, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Officer-in-Charge Janet Abuel manifested the DBM's commitment in supporting the priority programs and projects of all agencies that are consistent with the priorities of the President.

"Of course, our role would be to support [those priority programs and projects] with the aim of balancing [them] with the finite fiscal resources that we have, and also considering the macroeconomic assumptions--our medium-term growth assumptions--as well as long-term fiscal sustainability," Abuel said. "We commit to work closely with all of our agencies in order to be able to provide in the most efficient manner their budgets for 2019 as well as the requirements for 2020 and the succeeding years," she added.

Among the directives and priority programs and projects mentioned by President Rodrigo Duterte in his SONA are the creation of new departments, a new round of Salary Standardization Law, and the Government Rightsizing Law. These programs and projects are in line with the Administration's ultimate goal of giving comfortable lives to all Filipinos.

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