The House of Representatives ratified the P3.35-trillion national budget for 2017 on Tuesday evening after the bicameral conference committee reached consensus on a final version in spite of disagreements. The measure is expected to be ratified by the Senate last night.
The 293-seat chamber approved the measure by a voice vote. It is to be transmitted to President Duterte for signature on Dec. 22.
Earlier on Tuesday, the bicameral conference committee agreed to reallocate the P8.3-billion item that was originally assigned by the House to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) purposely for development projects in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
The House contingent, upon the proposal of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, agreed to accept the Senate鈥檚 position to allocate the money to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to fund scholarships for indigent college students.
鈥淚 said, if I were to be asked, let鈥檚 just put it in education鈥擟HEd in this case, and SUCs (state universities and colleges)鈥攕o that more scholars will benefit,鈥� Alvarez said in an interview.
But appropriations committee chair Karlo Alexei Nograles, in a statement, expressed his reservations about the additional allocation for CHEd.
The P8.3 billion was allocated purportedly to 鈥渇inance free tuition for students鈥� in all SUCs and as additional funds for incentives and grants.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a good concept to have free tuition fees for all students in our SUCs but I鈥檓 really worried if the fund is actually enough or if it will be properly implemented. The worst thing that can happen is if this fund becomes underutilized or underspent,鈥� he said.
Other additional 鈥渂ig ticket鈥� projects approved in the bicameral version of the bill are:
鈥� Additional P1,000 cash allowance for teachers (P770 million);
鈥� Additional funds for scholarship in SUCs (P1.2 billion);
鈥� Free tuition for medical students (P317 million);
鈥� Supplemental feeding (P1 billion);
鈥� Centenarian fund (P100 million);
鈥� Irrigation fees subsidy (P2 billion);
鈥� 鈥淧ondo sa pag-asenso at pagbabago fund鈥� (P1 billion);
鈥� Additional increase of Philhealth subsidy (P3 billion);
鈥� Additional funds for 鈥淒octors to the Barrios鈥� and construction of health facilities (P1.5 billion); and
鈥� Additional fund for the Department of National Defense (P2.8 billion).
Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate financial committee, assured the public that there was no pork barrel funds in the reconciled budget measure.