THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated P38.75 billion for the government’s digitalization initiatives next year.
The amount is 60.6 percent higher than this year’s P24.93 billion funding, according to Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.
“Technological advancement has given rise to a growing digital economy which continues to create new forms of work, transforming the employment landscape. Hence, investing in the digitalization of the bureaucracy is crucial not only in enhancing its efficiency but also in generating quality jobs for Filipinos,” Pangandaman said in a statement.
The ICT and digitalization budget will be divided among 10 government agencies: Department of Education, P9.43 billion; Department of Justice, P5.55 billion; Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), P5.34 billion; Department of Finance, P3.15 billion; Department of Interior and Local Government, P2.6 billion; National Economic and Development Authority, P2.08 billion; the Judiciary, P1.44 billion; Department of National Defense, P1.12 billion; Department of Environment and Natural Resources, P913 million; and other executive offices, P890 million.
Pangandaman said P990.63 million will be allocated to the ICT Systems and Infrastructure Development, Management and Advisory Program of the DICT.
She also said that the National Government Data Center Infrastructure Program, which aims to reduce government spending by providing resources to government agencies either through colocation or cloud services, will get P1.67 billion.
In addition, the DICT’s National Government Portal, which is intended to further streamline public service by connecting all government departments to a single website, will have an allocation of P302.86 million.
Another DICT program, the National Broadband Plan, will receive a budget of P1.5 billion to improve internet speed and allow affordability across the country.
Pangandaman said a separate P2.5 billion will fund the Free Wi-Fi Connectivity in Public Places and State Universities and Colleges program, with a target of 50 broadband sites in 82 provinces.
URGENT
President Marcos Jr. yesterday certified as urgent House Bill No. 8980 or the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 to allow the House of Representatives to expedite the passage of the General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
“Pursuant to the provisions of Article VI, Section 28 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, I hereby certify to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill No. 8980,” Marcos said in his letter to Speaker Martin Romualdez which was read on the floor early last night.
The Chief Executive said he issued the certification “in order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of the current fiscal year (FY), to expedite the funding of various programs, projects, and activities for FY 2024, and to ensure budgetary preparedness that will enable the government to effectively perform its constitutional mandate.”
Because of the President’s certification, the House can have the budget approved on second and on third and final reading both on the same day, disregarding the three-session day requirement before bills approved on second reading can be approved for passage on third reading.
The House has been holding floor deliberations on the budget measure since Monday and intends to finish next week.
This means that the House may pass the budget on or before September 29, the last calendar day of sessions before it goes on recess.
PDEA
The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) yesterday requested for an additional P589 million to funds its five priority projects.
PDEA chief Moro Virgilio Lazo said funding for the five projects are not included in its proposed P3.19 billion budget for next year.
Lazo said PDEA has asked the DBM to approve its proposed “multi-year appropriation” for the construction of its own academy.
“For this year, we are proposing P255,911,000 to fund the road networks that have to be constructed inside so that materials can be brought in and so that construction will continue,” he said.
He said PDEA already needs to put up its own academy since administrators of its present site in Camp Mariano Castañeda, the home of the PNP Academy, has “warned on several occasions that we have to leave” the premises to pave way for the construction of additional structures for the PNP Academy.
“We have a proposal for the construction of a PDEA Academy but for this year, only P50 million was released for the construction of its fence. We have an 11-hectare property in Tanay, Rizal that will house the future PDEA Academy,” Lazo said.
He said PDEA is just relying on the facilities of the PNP Academy to train its new agents.
“This (having its own PDEA Academy site) was overlooked when they (lawmakers) made the law. We are 21 years already and we still do not have our own academy where we can train new agents and retain our people,” he said.
Lazo said PDEA will also need P154.840 million for the construction of satellite offices in highly-urbanized cities.
“What is happening is that we have provincial offices, but we do not have offices for highly-urbanized cities. Give you an example, sir. We have an office for Cebu province, but we do not have an office for Cebu City,” he said.
He added that having highly-urbanized city offices will make their agents more efficient.
Likewise, Lazo said they need P3.140 million to continue its Narcotics Detection Dog Breeding Program, and another P116.8 million for the purchase of additional vehicles to be used in PDEA operations.
He said they also need to purchase modern equipment for the PDEA Forensic Laboratories nationwide which will serve as the DNA identifier of seized illegal drugs to determine their chemical composition and subsequently, trace their sources.
Lazo said PDEA also needs P192.861 million to upgrade its forensic labs nationwide.
Lazo said there is no reported abuse or arrest in connection with the illegal use of Fentanyl in the country.
He made the remark after Sen. Francis Tolentino asked during the budget hearing if there are reported abuse or arrests made in connection with Fentanyl abuse in the country.
“As far as Fentanyl usage in the Philippines is concerned, and as far as seizures are concerned, negative. We have no seizures as of now. No, none,” Lazo said.
Fentanyl is an addictive painkiller. Former President Duterte, in his previous speeches, admitted taking Fentanyl beyond the required dose prescribed by doctors “because more than the disappearance of pain, you feel that you are on cloud nine.”
Duterte had to take Fentanyl after a motorcycle accident when he was 68 years old.
Lazo said he had earlier issued a warning on the entry of the addictive painkiller in the country for possible recreational use during the agency’s anniversary last July since it now poses a serious problem in the US.
“It’s causing a lot of deaths in the US,” Lazo said.
He recalled an instance when he was in the US when a man high on Fentanyl cut his arm with a rechargeable kitchen knife in full view of the public.
“He felt no pain and was in fact even laughing,” he said.
He said a female cop who responded to the scene fainted upon seeing the man cutting his arm. The man eventually died.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said PDEA should strictly monitor the possible entry of smuggled Fentanyl in the country “because I’m 100 percent sure that if that is already popular in the US, it will also become popular here.”
MARAWI FUND
Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman on Wednesday reminded his colleagues that the DBM has committed to augment the P1 billion fund for the Marawi compensation program under the proposed P5.268 trillion national budget for 2024.
“We’re elated that we were able to secure a commitment from the DBM for the augmentation of the fund for the Marawi compensation program for the year 2024 because the P1 billion allocated for it is too small of an amount to cover the thousands of claims files by victims of the Marawi siege),” said Hataman, a former governor of the now defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The DBM communicated the commitment through Markina Rep. Stella Quimbo, senior vice chair of the House committee on appropriations during the plenary debates on the general principles of the General Appropriations Bill for 2024.
“I appreciate our mutual belief and sentiment that P1 billion a year is not enough to compensate the claimants of the Marawi Compensation Program. Kaya lubos ang ating pasasalamat sa (That’s why we’re grateful to the) appropriations committee at sa DBM for committing to increase the Marawi compensation fund for 2024,” Hataman said on the floor.
Hataman said a formal request was made for the fund augmentation that will come from the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB), which is constituted under Republic Act No. 11696 or the “Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022.”
During the plenary deliberations, the Basilan lawmaker quoted the MCB as saying that from July 4 to August 31, it received a total of 4,762 filed claims, which translates to roughly P17.46 billion for claims filed in just two months.
“These over 4,000 claims have already been verified. Sana man lang makalahati natin ito sa 2024 kasi hindi lang iyan ang kabuuang bilang ng claimants. Mas madami pa, ayon sa MCB (Hopefully, we can even settle half of the claims in 2024 because that’s not the total number claimants. There are more, according to MCB),” he said.
When asked if Congress can increase the allocation for the Marawi compensation fund, Quimbo said the only remedy to settle the claims is “find a way (to pay).”
Asked by Hataman if the claims will be funded, Quimbo said: “Yes, as long as these are validated.”
“We will assess based on the submission, ‘yun po ang sinabi ng DBM (That’s what the DBM says),” Quimbo said. “Kami po ay makaka-aksyon lamang kapag makapag-submit po sila (MCB) ng isang validated list (We can only act if they [MCB] submit a list.) — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
