LABOR Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma yesterday declined to say how much additional budget the Department of Labor and Employment needs next year despite suffering a cut of almost 30 percent from this year’s P36.9 billion budget, saying he would defer to the wisdom of Congress which has the power of the purse.
Laguesma told congressmen during the House committee on appropriations’ budget hearing on the proposed P25.899 billion DOLE budget for 2023 that it would be inappropriate for him to dictate to lawmakers how much more should be given to the agency.
“Hindi po ako magtatakda kung magkano. Iyon po ay iyong domain. Ang akin pong tungkulin, ipatupad po kung anong mandate ang ibibigay po ninyo (I will not set an amount. That is your domain. My duty is to execute the mandate you will give),” he told the panel, replying to deputy speaker Raymond Democrito Mendoza of TUCP party-list who asked how much the department really needs next year.
Laguesma said that since legislators have the exclusive power of the purse, the department will have to make do with whatever support and resources will be given to it.
The labor secretary said he would welcome whatever amount will be added to the department’s 2023 budget, an answer which Quezon Rep. David Suarez said was “commendable.”
“This is the first time I’ve seen a secretary not mention an amount of which he wants his budget to be increased. Indeed, (it’s) commendable,” said Suarez, a vice chair of the panel. “Medyo nagugulat lang ako, kasi ‘yung ibang mga secretaries, pag tinanong mo kung magkanong gustong increase, mayroon na silang amount na ipapakiusap (I’m just a little bit surprised because other secretaries, when asked how much increase thet want, they already have an amount in mind).”
Mendoza, Suarez and Reps. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City) and Teodorico Haresco, Jr. (Aklan) were among those who expressed their support for the increase in the reduced budget of the DOLE.
In his presentation, Laguesma discussed the context, mandate, and their agency’s role in the socio-economic agenda, strategic priorities, key accomplishments as of July 2022, as well as targets.
DOLE’s proposed budget for 2023 went down following the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) which has a P15 billion proposed budget, including P11.7 billion for the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration which was previously an agency under the DOLE.
Of the P11.7 billion, P10.8 billion was allocated for the social protection and welfare for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) program and another P3.5 billion for the office of the secretary.
The appropriations panel also wrapped up its hearing on the P3.951-billion proposed budget of the new Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
Human Settlements Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar requested the appropriations panel to reconsider the P36 billion housing interest subsidy funding for the “Pambansang Pabahay Para Sa Pilipino: Zero Informal Settler Families (ISF) Program for 2028.”
He said the department intends to take an “innovative approach” in addressing the 6.5 million housing backlog with the said project, explaining that the DHUSD aims to build one million homes per year, in collaboration with local governments and the private sector.
Senior Deputy Minority Leader Paul Ruiz Daza asked DHUSD officials about how the private sector would be involved in the proposed government program.
Acuzar said President Marcos Jr. directed the department to strengthen their partnership with the Local Government Units (LGUs) and ask for their help in identifying beneficiaries.
