Government adds P218 billion to 2022 national budget

MANILA, Philippines — The government has included a P218-billion additional program on top of the P5.02 trillion national budget in 2022, bulk of which were unprogrammed appropriations.

Data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed that the adjusted budget program last year reached P5.242 trillion.

This is about P218.46 billion more than the programmed P5.02 trillion budget.

Of the additional P218.46 billion, 84 percent or P183.84 billion of which went to unprogrammed appropriations.

Unprogrammed appropriations provide standby authority to incur additional agency obligations for priority programs or projects when revenue collection exceeds targets, and when additional grants or foreign funds are generated.

Of the unprogrammed appropriations, the biggest chunk at P100.47 billion went to support foreign assisted projects of the departments of Agriculture, Health, Public Works and Highways, and Transportation.

Another P37.88 billion was earmarked for infrastructure projects and social programs of the DA, DOTr, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, and the National Power Corp.

The DBM also included a P17.88 billion budget for the Department of Health to cover the compensation and other benefits of COVID workers.

Another P12.09 billion was also released for payment of personnel benefits of various government agencies.

Some P4 billion was allocated for the second additional financing for the Philippine Rural Development Project of the DA. The DBM also released P2.89 billion for social services projects of the DSWD.

Another P2.5 billion was for the share of local government units in excise taxes from locally-manufactured cigarettes.

The remaining budgets were released for support to the National Food Authority and the Light Rail Transit Authority (P2.5 billion), Department of Agrarian Reform for its parcelization of lands for individual titling (P2.18 billion), and fuel subsidy program of the DOTr (P1.4 billion).

Meanwhile, the other P34.62 billion of the P218 billion additional fund was allotted to other automatic appropriations, which included grants and donations, tax expenditures, military camps sales proceeds fund, and modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.