The PHP5.268-trillion national budget for 2023 remains supportive of the Marcos administration’s goals to create jobs and reduce poverty, the Department of Budget Management (DBM) said Wednesday.

DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman made this remark after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Dec. 16 signed Republic Act (RA) No. 11936 or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2023.

The fiscal year (FY) 2023 GAA, which is 4.9 percent higher than this year’s GAA, will serve as the roadmap toward robust economic growth and the creation of more quality and green jobs over the next six years.

“We will do this by steering our economy back to its high-growth trajectory as encapsulated in our Medium-term Fiscal Framework. Of course, we will be needing the consolidated efforts of all sectors to sustain inclusive and resilient growth in the near term,” Pangandaman said in a press statement.

She described the Marcos administration’s first spending plan as a “starting point” of the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda, which aims to address immediate concerns of the country, such as inflation by protecting the purchasing power of families and consumers.

The 2023 national budget also targets to mitigate the socioeconomic scarring brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the DBM, the indicative budgetary allocations under each of the 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda are:

–Food security – PHP 174 billion (of which PHP156.6 billion will be used to support banner programs of the Department of Agriculture such as the National Rice, Corn, Livestock and Fisheries Programs)

–Improved Transportation – PHP976.5 billion (of which PHP894.2 billion and PHP82.3 billion will go the Department of Public Works and Highways and Department of Transportation)

–Affordable and Clean Energy – PHP10.2 billion to support the Department of Energy’s commitment to ensure a reliable and secure mix of energy resources through its various programs

–Health Care – PHP342.4 billion (of which PHP314.6 billion will go to the Department of Health and Philippine Health Insurance Corp. for the provision of access to health care services through the construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of health facilities and purchase of medical equipment, as well as the provision for the National Health Insurance Program for social health protection)

–Education – PHP778.6 billion (of which PHP720.4 billion, PHP31.7 billion, and PHP16.2 billion, respectively will go the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for the safe reopening of schools)

–Social Services – PHP239.1 billion (of which PHP196.7 billion will go to the Department of Social Welfare and Development to implement its various social assistance programs including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, and Protective Services for Individuals and Families in Difficult Circumstances, among others)

–Sound Fiscal Management – PHP21.6 billion (of which PHP13.1 billion, PHP5.2 billion, and PHP1.7 billion, respectively will go to the Bureau of Internal Revenue and DBM)

–Bureaucratic Efficiency – PHP15.6 billion to digitalize government process and operations including facilitating the transformation and digitalization of the whole-of-government, with the vision of streamlining the bureaucracy. (PNA)

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