DBM chief: ₧5.768-trillion 2024 NEP submitted to PBBM a day after SONA

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE proposed record-high P5.768-trillion 2024 national expenditure program (NEP) is now on the table of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., ahead of the submission of the budget proposal to the Congress next week.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it turned over the 2024 NEP to Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, a day after the Chief Executive’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA).

The NEP was personally received by the President himself before he flew for his State Visit to Malaysia.

“We will present this to Congress, we will defend the President’s budget as much as we can,” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said.

“Our [national] budget is a budget that is responsive to the pressing issues that we have now.

Pangandaman added.

Pangandaman said the 2024 NEP would be submitted to the House of Representatives on August 2. Pangandaman reiterated her optimism that next year’s budget proposal would be approved faster than this year’s budget.

“I’m hopeful that it would be faster, because last year, when we submitted the NEP it was one week before the deadline,” she said.

“The proposed national budget will continue to prioritize expenditure items that promote social and economic transformation through infrastructure development, food security, digital transformation, and human capital development,” she added.

Under the Constitution, the national budget must be submitted to Congress within 30 days following the President’s SONA.

In a separate statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the budget allocations from certain sectors were further increased compared to their funding as presented

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each worker hired.

during the previous Cabinet meeting.

Citing the finalized NEP, the PCO said the education sector next year has a proposed budget of P924.7 billion, while the public works and health would get P822.2 billion and P306.1 billion, respectively. The transportation sector has a proposed budget of P214.3 billion.

“With the 2024 expenditure program, the government aims to continue strengthening the purchasing power of Filipinos; reducing vulnerability and mitigating scarring from the Covid-19 pandemic; and ensuring sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” the PCO said on Tuesday.