Senate sub-committee green lights NTC budget

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero. PHOTO BY RICHARD A. REYES

MANILA, Philippines – The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) P244.8 million proposed budget was approved on Tuesday by the Senate finance sub-committee.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who heads the sub-committee, approved the proposal in less than 30 minutes amid queries on the proposed sim card registration and the possibility of telecommunication companies billing users by the second instead of per minute.

The NTC’s proposed budget for 2014 is lower than this year’s allocation of P259.4 million.

Of the P244.8 million, P181.9 million will be spent for salaries and benefits of 466 NTC personnel and P62.9 million for Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses.

During the deliberations, the NTC presented their actual revenues for the last five years which grew from P3.2 billion in 2008 to P4.85 billion in 2012. The Commission is targeting revenues of P5.3 billion for 2013.

 Originally posted at 12:35 p.m.