Significance Change Coming For Filipinos After Pres. Duterte Signs 2017’s P3.35 Trillion Budget

President Rodrigo Duterte will sign the proposed P3.35-trillion national budget for next year on December 22, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Thursday, December 17.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said the Philippines can expect “significant change coming” next year as the House of Representatives and the Senate ratified the proposed budget, the first under the Duterte administration, on December 13 and 14, respectively.

“On behalf of the Department of Budget and Management, I would like to commend the Senate for making the Filipino people the priority of this budget, and Senate Finance Committee Chair Loren Legarda especially, for her wisdom and her unparalleled dedication in ensuring that the People’s budget for 2017 truly responds to the needs of those at the lowest rungs of the socioeconomic ladder,” he said.

Dubbed as the People’s Budget, Diokno said that so far, it is the biggest annual budget assembled.

The budget supports fundamental services needed by Filipinos and includes provisions that reach out to the marginalized sectors and underdeveloped provinces in the country, he said.

“Some of the highlights of the budget include an increased allocation for infrastructure development, free education for state universities and colleges, universal healthcare, rice allowance for the poor, free irrigation for farmers, subsistence allowance for prisoners, and pension for war veterans and centenarians,” the Budget chief said.

Source: Sunstar Manila