At least P44 billion in funds originally intended for flood control projects next year were reallocated by the House Committee on Appropriations for the country’s agriculture sector.
The panel, chaired by Nueva Ecija 1st District Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing, also approved the committee report containing the Budget Amendment and Review Subcommittee’s (BARSc) reallocation of the P255.53 billion budget, slashed from the flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
“Our task ahead is to ensure that every peso appropriated in this P6.79 trillion budget is invested where it matters most towards uplifting lives, protecting communities and securing our nation’s economic future for generations to come,” Suansing said.
The committee reallocated P44.9. billion to government agencies led by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to boost spending for the country’s agri-fisheries sector.
The DA received an additional P8.898 billion for farm-to-market roads; P7 billion in direct assistance for 1 million farmers; P8.693 billion for National Food Authority postharvest facilities; P4.076 billion for solar-powered irrigation; and P2.4 billion for deep-water ports, among others.
Also getting the realigned funds were the establishment of cold storage facilities amounting to P1.5 billion, fish ports at P2 billion, and soil health programs at P1 billion, among others.
The National Irrigation Administration was given an additional P5 billion for national, communal and pump irrigation systems.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) also got P250 million for its Beneficiaries Development and Sustainability Bridge Program, and P350 million for its Land Tenure Security Program.
OTHER REALLOCATIONS
Also, lawmakers approved a total of P37.3 billion in additional funding, including the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Philippine Science High School System (PSHSS).
Some of the reallocations include DepEd’s Basic Education Facilities Program, which received P22.5 billion to build and complete 19,360 classrooms.
CHED’s Tertiary Education Subsidy was given P6.619 billion to cover nearly half a million grantees and P2.693 billion for the Tulong Dunong Program.
TESDA will get P635.2 million for special training and P356 million for scholarships; and PSHSS was given an additional PHP100 million for scholarship program and P350 million for the improvement, construction and rehabilitation of its facilities.
Health programs got largest reallocation at P89.281 billion, which includes Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s returned funding of P60 billion to expand benefit packages and improve member coverage.
Some of the Department of Health’s additional allocation includes P2.4 billion for the completion of specialty hospitals, including the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and Philippine Cancer Center. Another P26.731 billion went to the Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients Program.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development was reallocated P32.063 billion for its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations program; P500 million under the Multi-Year Contractual Authority for the Mindanao Disaster Resource Center Phase 1; and P275 million for five regional Bahay PAGASA facilities.
For jobs and labor, the Department of Labor and Employment will get an additional P14.819 billion to expand the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program; and P3.312 billion for the Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program.
PIA PHOTO