MANILA – The P5.768-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2024 contains P2.398 trillion in Special Purpose Funds (SPF), the lion’s share of which will go to local government units (LGUs).
This was learned by the Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department (CPBRD) in its analysis of the NEP or proposed national budget.
The SPF, which is a lump sum fund, involve “top-up allocations to the budgets of recipient departments or agencies released during budget execution as determined by special conditions,” according to the CPBRD.
The 2024 NEP, which Malacañang submitted to the House of Representatives last month, is the largest in the country’s history.
Incidentally, the House Committee on Appropriations ended on Tuesday night, Sept 12 the grueling per agency hearings on then NEP, now embodied in House Bill (HB) No.8980 or General Appropriations Bill (GAB).
The SPF in next year’s NEP is 17.9 percent higher–or some P365 billion more–compared to the 2023 programmed level of P2.033 trillion, the CPBRD said.
Of next year’s SPF, some P1.008 trillion will be set aside for LGUs. This is the biggest single usage of the SPF.
Another significant allocation under the SPF was for debt interest payment to the tune o P570.5 billion.
The amount also covers P253.2 billion for the pension and gratuity fund of the military and uniformed personnel.
Meanwhile, some P222.5 billion was earmarked as budgetary support to government corporations. These include the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) at P101.5 billion, National Irrigation Administration (NIA) P41.3 billion, and National Food Authority (NIA) at P9 billion.
Other listed expenditures include the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (NDRRMF), which was allocated P31.0 billion.
Some P50 billion was also set aside for the revised Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization program. (MB)
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