House eyes OK of P3.3-T 2017 budget by yearend

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives is eyeing approval of the proposed P3.35-trillion 2017 national budget before the year ends.

Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles, chairman of the House appropriations committee, said he expects the General Appropriations Bill approved on second reading by Wednesday, Oct. 5, ready for the third reading after Congress resumes session from Halloween break.

 “Hopefully, by Wednesday, we are going to approve the national budget,” Nograles told reporters yesterday. “This will be passed on third and final reading after our Halloween break.”

Congress resumes today hearings on the proposed national budget, beginning the second week of a two-week marathon deliberation. 

One of the panel’s vice chairmen, Rep. LRay Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, defended the Department of Finance (DOF)’s P21.3-billion budget for next year, saying this will push the inclusive growth policy under President Duterte’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda.

“If government were a business, investing in the DOF is like investing in a revenue center that allows this business to pursue its objectives and value-adding activities,” the newbie lawmaker said.

Villafuerte underscored the importance of DOF’s crucial role in the government’s efforts to improve the living condition of the country’s most marginalized sectors, uplifting some 10 million Filipinos living in poverty for the past decades.

The Duterte administration is also aiming to transform the Philippines into an upper middle-income country by 2022.

“The DOF is tasked with the difficult role of generating revenues, managing debt and government corporations, and managing assets, in order to fund critical social services,” Villafuerte said of the General Appropriations Bill, or House Bill 3408.

Meanwhile, a senior administration lawmaker, Rep. Jerry Treñas of Iloilo, has joined Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in rejecting DOF’s proposal to scrap the value-added tax (VAT) exemption for the elderly and impose an excise tax on oil. 

The Liberal Party legislator said government should address leakages in its tax collection system first before Congress can consider its proposal to remove VAT exemptions for senior citizens and impose excise tax on petroleum products.

“This DOF proposal is anti-poor and a complete opposite of what President Duterte wants for our people,” Treñas said. “Speaker Alvarez is correct in saying that this proposal does not improve our revenue position. What we need is an efficient tax collection system.”