By Kris Crismundo/PNA
MANILA — Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Duterte administration has put a premium on social services as government spending for this sector peaked under the current leadership.
In a media briefing Wednesday, Diokno said the share of social services’ spending in the national budget made a leap in 2017 at 40.3 percent, the highest for the past 32 years.
It slipped in 2018 at 37.8 percent, slightly lower than the 37.9-percent share in the total government spending in 2014.
In terms of percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), expenditure on social services was the highest in 2017 and 2018 at 8.5 percent and 8.2 percent, respectively.
“This is a proof of our commitment to accelerate human capital development,” Diokno said.
Government’s allocation on social services funds basic and tertiary education, healthcare, insurance coverage and immunization, and social protection.
“Besides infrastructure development, the other objective of the Duterte administration is to invest in human capital development. We have a young and growing population whose median age is 24 years old. This is an asset in an aging world provided we are able to mold them into well-equipped and agile members of the labor force,” the budget chief said.
“We believe that the government has a role in ensuring its young people are educated, healthy, and competent with the necessary skills to be productive members of the Philippine economy and society. Judging by these numbers, the Duterte administration has delivered,” he added.
