With the signing of RA 10155 or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2012 on December 15 of last year, President Aquino assured the Filipino people that every peso of the P1.816-trillion National Budget would be used wisely, allowing his administration to fulfill its Social Contract with the Filipino people.
“We’re hoping that we will be able to weather the current economic storm; that we will do a lot better than what we did this year [2011],” the President said. “And we are done with the learning curve. We’ve already put in place many systems that should correct the issue with regards to making sure that corruption is being combated,” he added.
The so-called Results-Focused Budget represents 16.5 percent of the country’s GDP and is 10.4 percent higher than 2011’s budget of P1.645-trillion. This budget aims to allow the administration to deepen the reforms being set in place, to go one notch higher in the fight against corruption and the pursuit of good governance, poverty reduction, and employment generation from inclusive and sustained economic growth.
Building capacities through education
Investing in education remains one of the central strategies of the government to combat poverty and build national competitiveness. The Department of Education (DepEd) received the largest appropriation for this year with a budget of P238.8 billion from its budget of P 207.3 billion last year.
To secure education for all (EFA), a universal kindergarten program will be crafted, with 3,000 kindergarten teacher positions created in preparation for this. Also, 13, 000 teachers will be hired to fill in the gap for teacher shortage.
Part of the budget is also allotted for the provision of crucial resources. Basic educational facilities are allocated for to lessen the classroom and facilities gap. The funds will be used for the construction and repair or rehabilitation of 45,231 classrooms; procurement of more than 2.53 million school desks and chairs; construction of 25,667 water and sanitation facilities; and the procurement of 45.4 million textbooks and teachers’ manuals.
The Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) remains an innovative program to help decongest public schools and give poor but qualified students an opportunity to study in private schools. One million grantees will be supported by the GASTPE in 2012. In addition, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will also finance its Student Financial Assistance Programs (STUFAPs) which are expected to benefit 47, 330 grantees belonging to the poor and disadvantaged sectors.
Meanwhile, the five-year amortization by the national government of unremitted premiums to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will also begin. This will restore the membership status of more than half-a-million DepEd personnel, so they may now avail of all the privileges as bonafide GSIS members.
Advancing public health
The health sector received P44.4 billion of the national budget with a view to meet the health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to reduce by two-thirds the under-five mortality, by three-quarters the maternal mortality ration, and by half the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015.
Pursuant to Republic Act 10152, the basic immunization for babies and children under five years of age is mandatory. Under the law, all infants should be provided with the Hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. The Expanded Program on Immunization also aims to reduce infant mortality and morbidity by decreasing the prevalence of immunizable diseases including tuberculosis (TB), diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles and rotavirus. The target clients under this program are the 2.6 million Filipino children, aged 0-5 months.
The Doctors to the Barrios program will also be continued, with some 200 doctors, 1,021 midwives and 12,000 nurses deployed in rural health units (RHUs), barangay health stations (BHSs) and hospitals nationwide.
To provide wider access to health services, the premium subsidies for indigents under the National Health Insurance Program were also increased, from P3.5 billion to P12.0 billion, to help ensure cover for all of the 5.2 million indigent households.
Strengthening the rule of law
With the protection of our national territory and boundaries, strengthening of the rule of law, and institutionalization of an efficient and impartial justice system that delivers equal justice to the rich and poor all priority thrusts under the Aquino administration, the judiciary received the 10th biggest allocation with P15.7 billion.
To ensure that the violators of laws on trade competition are apprehended, Executive Order No. 45 was signed which designates the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the Competition Authority to investigate cases that break such laws and to protect consumers from abusive, fraudulent or harmful business practices.
The National Justice Information System (NJIS) will also be strengthened. The NJIS seeks to link all databases in the justice sector to provide for seamless exchange of data and real time information on offenders. The Witness Protection Services is also included in the budget, with the evaluation of 700 witnesses and the provision of security and protection to those identified as credible.
Government efforts against human trafficking will likewise be intensified with the establishment of the Anti-Trafficking Task Forces in local ports that will track down trafficking activities and prosecute human trafficking offenders. Along the same vein, an Office for Cybercrime will be created to address the increasing number of cyber crimes in the country. This office will put up a crime information network that will link up with various law enforcement and government investigation agencies.
The increase in the budget will also boost the Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJoW) Program of the Supreme Court, which brings mobile courts to areas where there are no judges and where the whole judicial process, from prosecution to conviction, can be conducted.
The DOJ budget also provides for the construction of a 12-storey Manila Hall of Justice along Taft Avenue.
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