"RP National Budget for 2011'' :D

"Tungo sa Tuwid na Paggugol" - as the introduced outlay by the administration is described to be "judicious" and last year’s proposed budget of 1.75 trillion was decreased because it’s using zero-based budgeting to allow a prudent and responsible management of public expenditures. Pork barrel funds of congressmen and senators will stay, and that education, as always, will have the lion’s share.

The four top general policies of the 2011 budget are (1) transparency, accountability and good governance, (2) delivery of basic services (education, public health, etc.), (3) economic services like infrastructures and (4) stable and safe environment.

The 2011 budget of P1.645 trillion is known as the "Reform Budget." It reflects the President's commitment to lift the nation from poverty through honest and effective governance. The budget represents 18.2% the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2011. The government projects a 5% GDP growth rate for next year.

The budget includes programmed new appropriations of P933.5 billion and P711.5 billion of automatic appropriations.

The latter, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) pointed out, includes debt service and interest payments of P357.1 billion; net lending of P15.0 billion; Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of P286.9 billion; and government contribution for employees’ retirement and life insurance premiums of P22.4 billion.

Some says that even if the budget was increased by 6.8 percent from last year’s budget of P1.541 trillion, the government’s plan to increase allocation for interest payment overwhelmed the purpose in addressing gaps in social services for the poor.

The education sector will receive the lion’s share at P207.3 billion which is 18% higher than last year. This will allow education officials to hire 10,000 more teachers, build 13,000 more classrooms, and increase the funds available for scholarship grants.

The amount for maintenance and other operating expenditure of the state colleges and universities (SUCs) were restored to their 2010 levels - between P110 and P140 million pesos.

The 2011 budget allocated P206.3 billion for basic education from this year’s P172.9 billion, which the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) said is P100 billion short of what is needed to address the current problems.

The conditional cash transfer program under the Department of Social Welfare and Development amounting to 21.9 billion pesos passed through the bicameral committee without cuts. The government is also targeting 2.3 million of the 4.3 million indigent households for the conditional cash transfers program. All indigent households will be given coverage by Phil health.

The government cut the budget for health by 3.5% from this year’s P40 billion to P38.6 billion. But the administration countered that the proposed allocation gives P2.5 billion for expanded immunization program, P5.7 billion for maternal and child-care facilities and P1.5 billion for potable water supply in waterless communities.

A total of P143 billion is allocated for infrastructure programs, while P15 billion is allotted for the government’s private-public partnerships (PPP), which will be found in the budgets of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Transportation and Communication, and Department of Public Works and Highways.

The government expects to generate P1.41 trillion revenues, P1.27 trillion or 90% comprising of taxes. The remaining P137.2 billion will be derived from non-tax sources such as fees and charges, income and foreign grants.

The government targets a lower budget for 2011 at P290 billion or 3.2% of GDP, lower than the 2010 budget deficit of P325 billion as it pointed out the plugging of tax leaks and revenues from public-private partnerships as ways to lead in the deficit. The deficit will be financed by P257.3 billion of domestic borrowings and P49.5 billion of foreign borrowings.

The 10 departments that will get the large piece of the proposed budget are: Education (P207.3 billion), Public Works and Highways (P110.6 billion), National Defense (P104.7 billion), Interior and Local Government (P88.2 billion), Agriculture (P37.7 billion), Social welfare and Development (P34.4 billion), Health (P33.3 billion), Transportation and Communication (P32.2 billion), Agrarian Reform (P16.7 billion), and the judiciary (P14.3 billion).

The following sectors receive budget cuts are: agriculture and agrarian reform (falling by P23.1 billion or 26 percent), communication, roads and other transportation (P7.9 billion or 5.2 percent), water resources development and flood control (P4 billion or 21.4 percent), and power and energy (P3.4 billion or 65.5 percent).

The budget chief said the lack of heavy infusion of resources on such services is hampering the Philippines’ commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The MDGs are part of the country’s commitments to the United Nations Development Program, which comprise of eight goals that touch on basic social issues.

These goals include (1) the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, (2) providing primary education services to all, (3) promoting gender equality and empowering women, ( 4)reducing the incidence of death among children,(5) improving maternal health, (6) fighting diseases like HIV/AIDS and malaria, (7) ensuring environmental sustainability, and (8) developing a global cooperation for development efforts.

The Palace has been in the process of finalizing the details of the P1.645-trillion budget for 2011. It has been a tradition that the President submits his proposed budget a month after he has made his SONA. -----DGD