Philippine President signs $37b budget for 2011
SOURCE: ANN
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed on Monday the 1.645-trillion-peso (US$37.28 billion) national budget, delighted that the first budget under his administration got full support and swift approval from Congress.
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SOURCE: ANN
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III signed on Monday the 1.645-trillion-peso (US$37.28 billion) national budget, delighted that the first budget under his administration got full support and swift approval from Congress.
"This will be the first time in eleven years that the budget will be signed into law in the same year that it was submitted," President Aquino said in a speech after he signed the General Appropriations Act of 2011 in the presence of lawmakers led by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Jose Belmonte as well as Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.
The President thanked Congress for approving the budget immediately, saying this showed how "indeed serious" it was "about the primary duty of the legislature" as he noted that the budget after all was "the most important act of any Congress".
"This will enable us to address the urgent needs of our people in a timely manner. Such needs include building more rural health units and providing immunization for children. This also allows us to construct new classrooms and hire new teachers, as promised to the Filipino people," Aquino also said.
President Aquino also confirmed that he has vetoed 13 items in the budget as recommended by the Department of Budget and Management to him earlier.
The Palace will post online late Monday the President's veto message.
Abad said the President did not veto any appropriations but items that had to do with general and special provisions tending to intrude on the executive's prerogative to implement the budget.
This included Congress' proposal to put a cap on government's borrowings at the level of 55 per cent of the growth domestic product, according to Abad.
"Twenty-six items in the budget were subject to what is called a conditional implementation which is really a clarification of how they should be implemented and we also had general observations on certain portions of the budget which is really expressing the view of the executive on some provisions which may later on subject to clarification or controversy, hopefully not," Abad told reporters.
Nevertheless, Abad said that 34.1 per cent of the budget -- the single largest allocation -- would go to social services, showing the importance Aquino gives to helping the disadvantaged in this largely-impoverished country.
"The reform budget of 2011 puts our poor countrymen first. This budget puts into pesos the Aquino government's unabashed bias for the poor," he told reporters.
Abad also stressed that the budget contained special provisions to ensure it would be highly transparent, in line with Aquino's promise to fight corruption at all levels.
"These general and special provisions require us to disclose key information on budgetary appropriations and releases using new information technology," he said.
However Abad did not say how large the programmed deficit would be under this budget.
It is the first budget to be signed by Aquino after he won elections in May, campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.
He has repeatedly attacked the image of graft that saddled his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo and vowed not to follow her example.
The budget was passed by Congress almost unchanged from Aquino's original proposal and came in ahead of schedule in a sign of the increased cooperation between the new president and the legislature.
Aquino thanked the legislators for approving his policy of "conditional cash transfers," where money is given to certain poor families.
Critics have said the policy is wasteful and will only foster dependency in a country where 33 per cent of the 94-million population live in poverty.
The President thanked Congress for approving the budget immediately, saying this showed how "indeed serious" it was "about the primary duty of the legislature" as he noted that the budget after all was "the most important act of any Congress".
"This will enable us to address the urgent needs of our people in a timely manner. Such needs include building more rural health units and providing immunization for children. This also allows us to construct new classrooms and hire new teachers, as promised to the Filipino people," Aquino also said.
President Aquino also confirmed that he has vetoed 13 items in the budget as recommended by the Department of Budget and Management to him earlier.
The Palace will post online late Monday the President's veto message.
Abad said the President did not veto any appropriations but items that had to do with general and special provisions tending to intrude on the executive's prerogative to implement the budget.
This included Congress' proposal to put a cap on government's borrowings at the level of 55 per cent of the growth domestic product, according to Abad.
"Twenty-six items in the budget were subject to what is called a conditional implementation which is really a clarification of how they should be implemented and we also had general observations on certain portions of the budget which is really expressing the view of the executive on some provisions which may later on subject to clarification or controversy, hopefully not," Abad told reporters.
Nevertheless, Abad said that 34.1 per cent of the budget -- the single largest allocation -- would go to social services, showing the importance Aquino gives to helping the disadvantaged in this largely-impoverished country.
"The reform budget of 2011 puts our poor countrymen first. This budget puts into pesos the Aquino government's unabashed bias for the poor," he told reporters.
Abad also stressed that the budget contained special provisions to ensure it would be highly transparent, in line with Aquino's promise to fight corruption at all levels.
"These general and special provisions require us to disclose key information on budgetary appropriations and releases using new information technology," he said.
However Abad did not say how large the programmed deficit would be under this budget.
It is the first budget to be signed by Aquino after he won elections in May, campaigning on an anti-corruption platform.
He has repeatedly attacked the image of graft that saddled his predecessor, Gloria Arroyo and vowed not to follow her example.
The budget was passed by Congress almost unchanged from Aquino's original proposal and came in ahead of schedule in a sign of the increased cooperation between the new president and the legislature.
Aquino thanked the legislators for approving his policy of "conditional cash transfers," where money is given to certain poor families.
Critics have said the policy is wasteful and will only foster dependency in a country where 33 per cent of the 94-million population live in poverty.
