Government hikes spending in the countryside

The Aquino administration intends to spend more on regional development in 2012, describing the move to be part of its anti-poverty program.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said that under the proposed 2012 national budget of P1.816 trillion, P799.6 billion would be allocated for projects and programs in various regions.

The amount proposed to be allocated next year is about 29 percent more than the P621.2-billion allocation stated under this year’s budget.

According to the DBM, the increase is in response to calls for higher spending in the countryside.

The agency noted that the proposed 2012 budget for regions would account for 44 percent of the entire national budget proposed for the year.

Of this year’s national budget, allocation for different regions only reached 37.5 percent.

“This [higher spending for the countryside] is one way to ensure that national government spending benefits the people, especially those in the regions,” Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said in a statement.

Moreover, Abad said, the proposed 2012 budget was drafted in such a way that the poorest regions in the Visayas and Mindanao would be given the highest budgetary allocations.

Western Mindanao will get P34.7 billion (an increase of 39.4 percent from its budget this year), Eastern Visayas P48.3 billion (38.7 percent increase), Caraga P30.2 billion (37.9 percent increase), Soccsksargen P36.4 billion (36.9 percent increase), Southern Mindanao P36.5 billion (34.6 percent increase), Central Visayas P54.4 billion (32.5 percent increase), and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao P38.8 billion (31.7 percent increase).

As a consequence of the higher budget allocations, Abad said, the non-regionalized portion of the budget—including budgetary requirements for central offices and centrally managed lump-sum funds—would decrease by 23.4 percent to P1.016 trillion in 2012 from P1.327 trillion in 2011.

Last Monday, the House of Representatives started deliberating on the proposed national budget for next year.

Abad said that due to the prompt submission of the proposed budget to Congress, it would be possible for legislators to pass the bill before the end of the year.

The Aquino takes pride in its prompt submission of the proposed national budget, noting that proposed budgets in the past administration had always been delayed, adversely affecting national spending.

The 2012 budget was submitted a day after the July 25 State of the Nation Address of the President.

Economic officials said the budget was drafted in a way that was consistent with the government’s medium-term development plan.

Under the Aquino administration’s development agenda, the economy will be primed to maintain robust growth rate through pro-poor programs, such as food subsidies for the poor, more support for micro enterprises, and invitation of private enterprises to invest in public infrastructure projects.—Michelle V. Remo