PNoy turns down Abad resignation. President Benigno Aquino III (2nd right) presides over the 2015 budget meeting with his Cabinet in Malacañang on Friday, July 11. Before the start of the meeting, Aquino announced his rejection of the resignation of Budget Secretary Florencio Abad (3rd left) amid the brewing controversy over the Disbursement Acceleration Program. Rey Baniquit
President Benigno Aquino III has ordered his Cabinet to fine-tune budget assumptions and planning parameters in the proposed 2015 national budget of P2.606 trillion in preparation for budget hearings.
Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. noted this year's proposed budget is 15 percent higher than the 2014 budget.
"After the meeting that lasted for more than six hours, the President directed the Cabinet to further fine-tune the budget assumptions and planning parameters so that these may be fully explained and justified at the hearings to be conducted by the Congress," Coloma said in a Palace statement.
He said Aquino and the Cabinet may meet again before the National Expenditure Program Budget Proposal is approved and finalized.
The expenditure program will be submitted to Congress after Aquino delivers his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.
On Friday, Aquino convened the Cabinet for a first look at the proposed budget for 2015.
Bigger Conditional Cash Transfer program
The Palace statement said the key expenditures in the proposed 2015 national budget are:
- social protection and social services
- job generation and economic expansion
- climate change adaptation and mitigation
- enabling environment for inclusive development
The administration will increase the budget for the Conditional Cash Transfer program to P78 billion from P62.6 billion.
It said this is due to the increase in coverage to five million households from 4.3 million households based on the National Household Targeting System.
The government also wants to beef up the allocation for the National Health Insurance Program to P37.2 billion from P35.3 billion.
Coloma said this is due to the insurance coverage increasing to 15.4 million from 14.7 million.
Additional allocations in the proposed 2015 budget will also go to basic educational facilities such as classrooms, water and sanitation, from P44.6 billion to P52.7 billion.
For job generation, government is eyeing more money for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to build roads and bridges, an increase to P186.6 billion from P130.4 billion.
The budget for tourism infrastructure development was also increased to P20 billion from P14.7 billion, as international tourists increase to 8.2 million from 6.8 million to 8.2 million and domestic tourists from to 51.7 million from 47.7 million.
Meanwhile, government is addressing the impact of climate change by allotting a greater budget for DPWH's flood control and drainage projects, to P38.6 billion from P34.8 billion. — Joel Locsin/JDS, GMA News
Source: Top Stories - Google News
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