By Pearl Gumapos
The Department of Budget and Management has submitted the proposed P5.024 trillion-worth 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) this morning (Aug. 23) to the Congress.
“Inaasahang nasumite na ng DBM kaninang umaga ang P5.024 trillion na proposed 2022 NEP sa ating Kongreso. Ito po ngayon ang pinakamataas na budget na isinumite sa Kongreso,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday during a public briefing.
“The 2022 NEP was carefully crafted to provide the necessary funding requirements to support the country’s resilience against the COVID-19 pandemic, to sustain the trajectory or economic growth, and to continue the legacy of infrastructure development,” Roque said
Included in the proposed budget is P45.4 billion to be allotted for COVID-19 booster shots of 93.798 million fully-vaccinated Fiipinos, P983 million for the establishment of the Virology Science and Technology Institute of the Philippines, and P140.0 million to strengthen the biosurveillance and immune-biosurveillance of COVID-19 variants under the Philippine Genomic Information and Resource Hub.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives Lord Allan Velasco said the submission of the proposed budget “signals the start of the budget season in Congress.”
“We, in the House of Representatives, are all set to carry out our constitutional duty of carefully scrutinizing the P5.024-trillion national budget, which includes an allocation of at least P240.75 billion for COVID-19 response,” Velasco said.
“As the coronavirus pandemic drags on and with no end in sight, it is incumbent upon Congress to swiftly pass a national budget that will not only serve as an instrument for development, but also as a powerful tool to decisively defeat COVID-19 and rebuild people’s lives and livelihoods,” he added. – rir
