House Appropriations Committee chairman and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co said he is pleased with the anti-inflation, pro-poor budget approved at the bicameral conference committee level Dec. 11.
Co said the key priorities of the P5.768 trillion budget for 2024 remain the same: education, healthcare, infrastructure, social services, social welfare, and many others.
“Pagkain, trabaho, kalusugan, edukasyon at pabahay – yan ang mga pamana ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. na bibigyang katuparan sa pamamagitan ng pambansang budget sa 2024 at mga susunod na taon (Food, jobs, health, education and housing – these are the President’s legacy projects to be delivered through the 2024 budget and beyond),” the solon stressed.
“But apart from regular budget items, we’re most proud of three legacy projects that President Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez hope to fulfill through this budget. These include Legacy Food Security, Legacy Specialty Hospitals and Legacy Housing for the poor,” he said.
Co said the House contingent fought hard to keep budget provisions to boost food production to fight inflation, assistance to poor and near poor families, as well as social and medical services.
“We’re also pleased with the removal of the controversial confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) which has been the source of corruption. Thanks to our Senate counterparts for supporting our stand to remove CIF and transfer the funds instead to agencies involved in national security,” he stressed in a press release Monday.
To pursue Legacy Food Security, Co said that Congress is allocating P10-billion to support rice farmers through irrigation, free seeds, fertilizer, and other farm inputs. Aside from job creation, the seed capital will ensure farmers’ income and lead to production of affordable and high-quality local rice, he added.
Congress is also investing P60-billion for large scale irrigation projects, like dams, water reservoirs and solar irrigation systems. “Through this budget we will expand irrigation coverage to boost food production. This is in line with the President’s target for the Philippines to be a food exporter before the end of his term,” Co said.
Aside from rice and irrigation programs, he said Congress is allocating P25-billion to the Department of Agriculture to support other crops that the country produces.
Co said the construction of specialty hospitals that the President promised last year is continuing. Since the target is to finish these hospitals within three years, he said Congress again funded the following legacy hospital projects: Philippine General Hospital expansion, P1 billion; National Kidney Center’s 14-storey building, P1.5 billion; Philippine Children’s Medical Center, P1-billion; National Cancer Center, P1 billion; Bicol Regional Medical Center P1 billion, and other specialty hospitals in Batangas, Cavite, and Laguna.
“Aside from building special healthcare facilities, the government will continue to provide free, high quality medical care and medicines to Filipinos,” he said.
Meanwhile, Co said the AICS, or Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations, and 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program will continue to be funded by Congress so it can provide financial assistance to jobless Filipinos.
In the 2024 budget, Co said the House contingent introduced a new P60-billion program called AKAP, or Ayuda sa Kapos ang Kita Program. Under AKAP, some 12 million households that earn less than P23,000 per month shall be entitled to government financial support. “Ang programang ito ay para sa mga tinatawag na ‘near poor’ – may trabaho ngunit hindi sapat ang kita.”
Co said the 2024 budget will also cover the President’s Legacy Housing for the Poor project. The flagship program aims to fill the housing backlog by constructing housing projects with government subsidy. Monthly amortization is only between P2,500 to P3,500 per unit, a far cry from similar housing projects of private developers with monthly amortizations of P15,000. ||
