WITH the health and economic impact of Covid-19 expected to persist next year, the government allocated the biggest chunk of its proposed P5-trillion 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to health and education-related programs.
In an online press briefing on Tuesday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque disclosed the said programs, collectively known as the social service sector, will get 38.3 percent or P1.92 trillion of the 2022 NEP.
He said the allocation will also cover the purchases of Covid-19 vaccine and personal protective equipment (PPE), among others.
“This is in line with the promise of the President that no one will be left behind [during the pandemic],” Roque said.
The economic service sector, which includes the government’s flagship infrastructure projects, got the second biggest allocation with P1.474 trillion.
The rest was allocated to the general public services sector (P862.7 billion), debt burden (P541.3 billion), and defense sector (P224.4 billion).
By agency, the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and State Universities and Colleges, which were collectively known as education departments, received the highest budget allocation with P773.6 billion.
It was followed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) with P686.1 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) with P250.4 billion; Department of Health (DOH) with P242 billion; Department of National Defense (DND) with P222 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with P191.4 billion; Department of Transportation (DOTr) with P151.3 billion; Department of Agriculture (DA) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA) with P103.5 billion; and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) with P44.9 billion.
A similar prioritization was also present in the 2021 NEP, where education departments got the largest fund allocation with P751.7 billion.
The other top agencies,which received the largest budget were the DPWH with P695.7 billion; DILG with P249.3 billion; DOH with P210.2 billion; DND with P205.8 billion; DSWD with P176 billion; DOTr with P87.9 billion; DA with P71 billion; Judiciary with P45.3 billion and DOLE with P37.1 billion.
Roque said the P5.024-trillion 2022 NEP is expected to be submitted by DBM to Congress by August 23, 2021.
It is currently the biggest NEP, which is equivalent to 22.8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).