Cabinet Approves P3.757-T Budget for 2019

Malacanang on Tuesday announced that the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte approved the proposed PHP3.757-trillion budget for year 2019.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the proposed national budget was approved during a record nine-hour Cabinet meeting that lasted up to 1 a.m. on Tuesday.

Roque said personal services will get the biggest pie of 31.5 percent or PHP1.185 trillion followed by capital outlays amounting to PHP752.7 billion or 20 percent of the proposed budget.

The local government units (LGUs) will get third highest share of PHP640 billion or 17.1 percent followed by maintenance expenditures which has allotment of PHP562.9 billion (15 percent).

A total of PHP414.1 billion (11 percent) will be used for debt servicing while PHP187.1 billion (5 percent) and PHP14.5 billion (0.4 percent) will go to tax expenditures and government-owned and controlled corporations, respectively.

“Again, the budget that the Cabinet has approved for the year 2019 is PHP3.757 trillion,” Roque said in a press conference held in Indang, Cavite.

Last year, Duterte personally submitted the proposed national budget for 2018 amounting to PHP3.767 trillion after he delivered his second State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA).

Duterte is scheduled to deliver his third SONA on July 23 which he said will be over in 35 minutes.

In 2017, Duterte’s SONA lasted for 120 minutes while his first SONA in 2016 was finished in 90 minutes. (PNA)