GOVPH

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed and approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA) on December 28, 2020 which included his Veto Message on specific items and provisions to the said GAA. This is to ensure the judicious implementation of the FY 2021 budget which is crafted to help the country reset, rebound, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.    FY 2021 GAA Provisions subject to Direct Veto   In the President’s Veto Message, provisions which do not relate to particular appropriations, of which would effectively amend the Constitution, or any existing laws were subjected to direct veto. Specifically, the President directly vetoed any provision which allows agencies to use their income without separate legal bases since these provisions will reduce the sources of financing for next year’s budget as well as increase the appropriations of agencies beyond the approved expenditure levels.  Moreover, the President directly vetoed any provision on the use of savings by an agency or department without his approval since the Constitution limits such power to the President with respect to the Executive department.    The President also directly vetoed any provision which...

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte today signed into law the PhP4.506 trillion Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA), which is the third full cash budget of the Duterte Administration and serves as the government’s financial blueprint to recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The PhP4.506 trillion budget, which is equivalent to 21.8 percent of gross domestic product, is the country’s largest to date, larger by 10 percent than the FY 2020 budget.   Carrying the theme “Reset, Rebound, and Recover: Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability”,the FY 2021 national budget will help the nation reset by addressing the pandemic, rebound by boosting infrastructure development and by generating job opportunities, and rebuild by assisting communities adapt to the post-pandemic life.   By Sector   The social services sector accounts for the largest bulk of the FY 2021 budget, with PhP1,668.0 billion, equivalent to 37.0 percent of the national budget. The economic services sector, which includes the Administration’s flagship Build, Build, Buildprogram, will receive the second highest allocation with PhP1,323.1 billion or 29.4 percent of the budget. Meanwhile, the General...

Review of the Medium-Term Macroeconomic Assumptions and Fiscal Program for FY 2020 to 2022 December 3, 2020 We, the members of the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), met to review the government’s medium-term macroeconomic assumptions, fiscal program, and growth targets. We have revised macroeconomic assumptions and targets to take into account recent positive developments that will help propel the Philippine economy to a strong recovery starting 2021.   These developments include our gradual recovery, the better-than-expected performance of the main revenue collection agencies, improvements in the employment situation compared to the peak of community quarantine restrictions, and the likely passage of key economic recovery bills.   The Philippines has endured the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through prudent fiscal management and evidence-based and decisive actions to address the global health emergency. As the economy gradually moves towards full reopening, we expect significantly better economic outcomes next year.   Real Growth Projections   The emerging Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate assumption for 2020 has been adjusted to -8.5 to -9.5...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) wishes to inform the Filipino public that it remains true to its commitment to ensure availability of financial resources to support the operations of the country’s hospitals and medical facilities as we continue to fight against the Coronavirus Diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.   Under Republic Act (RA) No. 11469 or Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1), the DBM has issued a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) last May 26, 2020 amounting to P400-million to augment the operational budget of the University of the Philippines – Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH). As of November 17, 2020, obligations made from this release stand at only P176.982-million, leaving an unobligated balance of P223.018-million for use of the UP-PGH.   With regard to the payment of the Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for frontline health workers as authorized under Bayanihan 1, it is clarified that the letter dated November 11, 2020 addressed to the UP President was not a disapproval letter. Instead, the letter affirmed that 1,918 frontline health workers of the UP-PGH are entitled to the SRA under Bayanihan 1 with a total funding requirement of...

As of October 29, 2020, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released a total of P77.98 billion to various government agencies and departments for their respective COVID-19 related response programs pursuant to RA No. 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act”. This came after the President delegated to the DBM Secretary the authority to approve budget requests under Bayanihan II in order to facilitate the immediate release of funds, among others.  With the President’s authority, the DBM has released P76.22 Billion out of the P140.0 Billion allocation under RA No. 11494 to the following Departmentsand Agencies:   Department/Agency Amount (in PhP) Purpose Department of the Interior and Local Government 2,522,660,000.00 For the hiring and training of contact tracers Office of Civil Defense 855,190,418.00 For the construction and maintenance of COVID-19 isolation facilities including billings of hotels, food and transportation Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) - Local Government Units 461,474,250.00 COVID-19 Local Government Support Fund to provinces, municipalities and cities for their respective COVID-19 response initiatives BTr - Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) 1,000,000,000.00 To...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) assures the Filipino people that it provides sufficient attention to the release of funds pursuant to Republic Act No. 11494 or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act”. Out of the P140-Billion worth of COVID-19 related interventions, the DBM has already released allotments amounting to P4.413-Billion pesos to the following Departments/Agencies: Department/Agency Amount (in PhP) Purpose Department of the Interior and Local Government 2,522,660,000.00 Hiring and training of contract tracers Office of Civil Defense 855,190,418.00 Construction and maintenance of isolation facilities including billings of hotels, food and transportation Bureau of the Treasury for the Local Government Units 215,476,750.00 COVID-19 Local Government Support Fund  Department of Foreign Affairs 820,000,000.00 Assistance-to-Nationals Fund Total 4,413,327,168.00 These releases were charged against the certified amount of the Bureau of the Treasury pursuant to Section 4(ss) of RA No. 11494. On the other hand, the release of funds for the following Departments/Agencies were already recommended to the Office of the President (OP): Department/Agency Amount (in PhP) Purpose Department...

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has released P3.92-trillion, or 95.7 percent of the P4.10-trillion program of appropriations for the first eight (8) months of 2020. This is substantially higher when compared to the 91.4 percent of allotments released for the same period in 2019.   As of end-August 2020, 90.6 percent or P2.13-trillion from the total P2.35-trillion programmed appropriations for line agencies was released to fund various programs/activities/projects (PAPs). This leaves a balance of P221.38-billion for later release.   Out of the programmed P491.42-billion appropriations for Special Purpose Funds (SPFs), the DBM has released 60.5 percent amounting to P297.40-billion. SPFs are budgetary allocations in the GAA allocated for specific socio-economic purposes such as Budgetary Support to Government Corporations, Allocation to Local Government Units, Contingent Fund, Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, and Pension and Gratuity Fund.   Allotment releases for automatic appropriations surpassed the FY 2020 Program reaching P1.27-trillion. Further, the DBM has released P77.22-billion from the continuing...