The 2021 Philippine budget: Politicking at the public’s expense

This puts the GAA yet again in the spotlight. But what exactly is the GAA? How and when is it enacted? Why is it so important? More importantly, why is a re-enacted budget detrimental for the country?

The GAA is now arguably the most important piece of legislation that Congress needs to pass. The GAA is an annual legislative measure, which specifies the amount of money that may be spent by any government instrumentality in a given year. In practical terms, the GAA effectively determines how the government can take action on the people’s needs, given that every government measure has corresponding expenses.

Most parts of the GAA is formulated by the Executive Branch and is initiated by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) through the determination of a budget ceiling. The DBCC then submits the budget ceiling to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), which triggers a national budget call where all regional government agencies are instructed to determine their budget needs for the following year. The regional government agencies’ budgets are then consolidated by their respective central offices, which are then submitted to the DBM to come up with the National Expenditure Program (NEP) where all programs and projects that are to be funded out of government funds are defined. The NEP is then forwarded to the President for final review before submission to Congress for legislation of the GAA.

In relation thereto, Section 25(7), Article VI of the Constitution provides that if Congress fails to enact the GAA for a given fiscal year, the previous year’s GAA shall be deemed re-enacted. Thus, a failure to provide a corresponding GAA for any given year means that there would be no room for adjustment or improvement on the services provided by government. If this should be the case, salary increases, infrastructure development, and social and healthcare services are among the items of government spending that will be delayed, if not completely canceled.

As pointed out by President Duterte in a public address, a re-enacted budget would spell disaster for the Philippines because his administration intends to implement several new projects to aid the public from the reeling effects of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. This would also further delay his administration’s ambitious infrastructure program, “Build, Build, Build,” as the budget appropriations for new phases of infrastructure developments could be put on hold, like what happened when the 2019 GAA was enacted late that year. Lastly, the Duterte Administration also hopes that the P4.5-Trillion 2021 Budget would serve as the largest stimulus for our pandemic-battered economy.

Notwithstanding the necessity of enacting the GAA soonest, the politicos in Congress have held it hostage to advance their respective personal ambitions. Given the significance of passing the 2021 Budget, the importance of which has already been demonstrated, it is the ordinary Juan who will inevitably pay the price for the seemingly useless politicking that went on in the House of Representatives. The better politician is one who ultimately sacrifices his personal political aspirations for the benefit of the ordinary Filipino.