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President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law the P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021
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The 2021 national budget is 10% larger than the 2020 appropriations and is the country’s largest annual budget to date
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Social services accounts for the largest bulk of the 2021 budget with a 37% share, followed by economic services with 29.4% and general public services with 16.6%
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The 2021 budget also provides funding for the Department of Transportation’s rail transport program, land public transportation program, and maritime infrastructure program
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on December 28 signed into law the P4.506 trillion national budget for 2021, which is 10% larger than appropriations for 2020 and is the country’s largest annual budget to date.
The 2021 General Appropriations Act aims to help the nation reset by addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, to rebound by boosting infrastructure development and by generating job opportunities, and to rebuild by assisting communities adapt to post-pandemic life, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
The social services sector accounts for the largest portion of the 2021 budget with a P1.668 trillion funding, or 37% of the total.
The economic services sector, which includes the administration’s flagship Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, will receive the second highest allocation of P1.323 trillion or 29.4%.
The general public services sector will be allocated P747.8 billion (16.6%), debt burden P560.2 billion (12.4%), and defense P206.8 billion (4.6%).
In terms of departments, the Department of Education will continue to receive the largest portion of the budget with P751.7 billion, or 16.7% of the total.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Interior and Local Government follow with allotments of P695.7 billion (15.4%) and P249.3 billion (5.5%), respectively.
The Department of Health will receive P210.2 billion, which is 19.6% of the total, followed by the Department of National Defense with P205.8 billion, Department of Social Welfare and Development with P176.9 billion, Department of Transportation (DOTr) with P87.9 billion, Department of Agriculture with P71.0 billion, the Judiciary with P45.3 billion, and the Department of Labor and Employment with P37.1 billion.
For infrastructure projects under the DPWH, some P317.7 billion will be implemented for its core programs, particularly asset preservation (P66 billion), network development (P124.5 billion), bridge program (P25.4 billion) and flood management (P101.8 billion).
There will also be funding support for the DOTr’s rail transport program (P47.7 billion), land public transportation program (P12.64 billion), and maritime infrastructure program (P562.41 million) for next year.
