Notes on national budgeting: 1977, 1988, and 2025

Looking through how government budgets have gone over the years

- DR. JAIME C. LAYA

WALA LANG

Soon after Congress convenes every July, the President submits a proposal to the House of Representatives that details what the government needs to operate and to implement projects in the coming year, the revenues that it expects to generate, and how much it needs to borrow to cover the proposed expenditures.

Expenditure, revenue, and borrowing levels are recommended to the President by an inter-agency group that takes into account the needs and desires of the Filipino people and the eventual impact on income, employment, domestic production, and other vital areas.

The size of the deficit and therefore new borrowing needs to provide for interest and principal payments on existing debt, and, among others, to consider the impact of domestic borrowing on inflation and the impact of foreign borrowing on the Balance of Payments.

Expenditure proposals can be programmed or unprogrammed. Programmed appropriations are those that are covered by assured revenues, while unprogrammed appropriations are for activities that will be implemented only if there are excess revenues, i.e., revenues over and above those needed to pay for programmed undertakings.

President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued P.D. No. 1177 in July 1977. It anticipated the convening of the National Assembly (Batasáng Pambansa) and had features that would have been nice to have in 2025: