SHOWTIME: Government in action

By:? Mario G. Zavalla

Brought to you by the FUTURIST |? September 29, 2024

It's budgeting time once again….one of the most if not the most important legislative event of the year. It is an opportunity for everyJuan to see their?government in action, to observe how well the members of the House?Committee on Appropriations conduct themselves during the proceedings,?and how good they are in asking the right questions to get the right answers from the heads of?government agencies seeking approvals of their budget requests.?

The process provides a lot of answers to questions normally asked by the general public such as but not limited to where their money in the form?of taxes and fees are going, which economic sectors will receive the?biggest or smallest shares of the total budget, what benefits are?expected and how much additional debt will be incurred.? In short,?they would like to be informed whether the money will be spent or?used wisely or unwisely as measured in terms of the rate of increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of the country, gross national income (GNI) or other economic performance metrics.

GDP is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods?and services produced by a country in a given period, usually one?quarter or one year. GDP is often used internationally as a gauge of?the economic health of a country.

What are the steps involved in the budgeting process?

The first major step involves the preparation by individual agencies?of their estimates of expenditures or proposed budget for the?succeeding year and submit them in required forms to the?Department of Budget & Management (DBM) while adhering to the?guidelines and timetable set earlier. The second step requires?agencies to give justifications of their proposed budgets before the?DBM technical review panels. The third involves the review and?consolidation of the budgets of all agencies for inclusion in the?President's proposed budget for submission to Congress. The?next step requires the agencies? to explain the details of their proposed budgets in separate hearings called by the Lower?House and the Senate for inclusion in the General Appropriations?Bill and lastly, the signing of the said Bill into law known as the?General Appropriations Act.

In summary, it was quite refreshing to see our lady lawmakers?actively participating in the budget hearings with the air of?confidence and coolness sharpened probably by experience?and familiarity with the rules and procedures governing this?type of legislative proceedings. I watched? for almost an hour?the verbal "skirmish" between the members of the House panel?and VP Duterte that ended almost in the same way it started?because of the refusal of the latter? to answer the specific questions thrown at her by the former. The hearings with one agency though was a little chaotic due to the unparliamentary conduct of some committee members.

Due to the impasse created by the refusal of VP Sara Duterte to?answer the questions from the members of the Appropriations?Committee, the House terminated the proceedings and slashed?the proposed budget of the OVP to P733 million from P2.026?billion and approved last Wednesday the General Appropriations?Bill amounting to P6.352 trillion for 2025 equivalent to 22.0 percent?of GDP and is 10.1% higher than the 2024 budget of?Php 5.768 trillion.

After the approval of the 2025 budget, the spending will follow. Will the?country then be able to hit its GDP target of 6.5% to 8% this time? Most pundits are less optimistic about the country's economic prospects for 2024 and 2025 than its economic managers by predicting a 2025 GDP within the high end of 5% to a low end of 6%. The IMF, for one, expects the Philippine economy to grow by 5.8% by the end of 2024 and 6.1% at the end of 2025 making it among the highest growing in the Asian region. The IMF explained, "easing inflation, gradual monetary policy reduction, an uptick in foreign direct investments (FDI) as well as growth in private-public partnerships are seen to buoy the economy. Further easing in inflation is also anticipated due to the adjustments made by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other non-monetary policy measures."

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