Higher budgets urged for agri, health, public works
THE GOVERNMENT must increase funding for agriculture, health and public works to back up its commitments to support these sectors, analysts said.
Federation of Free Farmers National Manager Raul Q. Montemayor said the lower proposed budget for agriculture contradicts the government’s promise to support farming.
“The increase for DA (Department of Agriculture) is much smaller than what had been requested and what is needed to support the sector. It also runs counter to many previous pronouncements from the President and legislators that they will give budget priority to food security and support farmers,” he said via Viber.
Under next year’s proposed P6.352-trillion budget, the DA and its various agencies, as well as the Department of Agrarian Reform were allocated P211.3 billion, down 4.7% from the P221.7 billion allocated this year.
Next year’s funding for the National Irrigation Authority declined to P42.57 billion from P70.22 billion this year.
Legislators need to increase funding for post-harvest facilities like dryers and storage facilities, marketing infrastructure, crop insurance, risk mitigating measures, and data and information systems, Mr. Montemayor said.
United Broiler Raisers Association President Elias Jose M. Inciong said budgetary support is necessary to implement the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act. These include the establishment of an information network and quarantine system for agriculture and fisheries.
The budget of the Department of Health, which includes the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), was also cut by 3.5% to P297.6 billion.
PhilHealth’s budget for next year increased by 21% to P74.43 billion.
Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. President Jose Rene D. de Grano said PhilHealth would need even more to increase the government’s contribution to patients’ medical bills.
“PhilHealth only covers around 14-15% of patients’ hospital bills… the rest are out-of-pocket (payments),” he said via phone.
Budgetary support to government hospitals decreased: the National Kidney and Transplant Institute is set to receive P1.49 billion in 2025, down from this year’s P1.63 billion, and the Lung Center of the Philippines could get P711.34 million next year, against P791.11 billion this year.
Other specialist healthcare institutions that received budget cuts are the Philippine Heart Center (P2.21 billion for 2025 from P2.41 billion this year), Philippine Children’s Medical Center (P1.4 billion next year from P1.96 billion), and the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care (P154.73 million from P173.85 million).
The Department of Public Works and Highways’ budget was also slashed to P900 billion from this P997.9 billion in this year’s General Appropriations Act.
Nigel Paul C. Villarete, senior adviser on public-private partnership at Libra Konsult, Inc., cited the need for a higher public works budget to bolster economic growth.
“Since infrastructure plays a bigger part in economic development, I hope Congress would give the sector the annual increase it deserves, at least, approximating the overall budget increase rate of 10% over this year’s,” he said in a Viber message.
The government hopes to spend 5-6% of gross domestic product on infrastructure each year.
The budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development declined by 7% to P230.1 billion next year.
Starting this week, members of the Cabinet are set to defend their agencies’ respective budgets before Congressional panels. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz