MANILA, Philippines (Updated 8:30 p.m.) — Both chambers of Congress on Wednesday approved the final version of the Duterte administration's penultimate budget worth P4.5 trillion.
In a tweet Wednesday night, the House announced that it has ratified the bicameral committee report on the 2021 General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
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A few hours later, the Senate also ratified the bicameral version of the proposed 2021 national budget.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said the approval of the 2021 national budget "reflects the serious commitment of the Duterte government to defeat COVID-19 and bring the economy back on track."
"When we keep our commitments to our fellow Filipinos and continue to put their interests first, we will surely overcome the health, social and economic impacts of the pandemic," Velasco said.
The final version of the budget bill includes P20 billion allocation for COVID-19 vaccines, P2 billion for the purchase of personal protective equipment and P462 million for the Medical Health Assistance Program and P100 million for the mental health program under the Department of Health.
The top 10 recipients of the 2021 budget are the following:
- Education (DepEd, SUCs, CHED, TESDA) - P708.2 billion
- DPWH - P694.8 billion
- Health (DOH, PhilHealth, Vaccines) - P287.5 billion
- DILG - P247.5 billion
- DND - P205.5 billion
- DSWD - P176.7 billion
- DOTr - P87.4 billion
- DA - P68.6 billion
- Judiciary - P44.1 billion
- DOLE - P36.3 billion
As of writing, the Senate is still deliberating on the final version of the 2021 budget.
Once approved by both chambers of Congress, the bill can be forwarded to the president for final approval.
According to Velasco, the enrolled copy of the 2021 GAB will be sent next week to Malacañang for the signature of President Rodrigo Duterte. — Patricia Lourdes Viray with report from Xave Gregorio