(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte approved the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019 in a cabinet meeting on Monday night, the Palace spokesperson said Tuesday, July 10.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque disclosed that the President approved the national budget during the 27th Cabinet meeting in Malacañang on Monday, July 9, 2018.
“Kahapon din po ay na-approve po ng Gabinete ‘yung ating budget for 2019. At ang ating budget po ay P3.757 trillion (Also yesterday, the Cabinet approved our national budget for 2019. And our [proposed] budget is P3.757 trillion),” Roque said in a press conference.
The 2019 proposed budget is slightly lower than the 2018 budget of P3.767 trillion.
Almost a third of the budget, or P1.185 trillion, will go to personnel services.
This is followed by capital outlays with P752.7 billion, local government unit allotments with P640.6 billion, and maintenance expenditures with P562.9 billion.
The rest goes to debt burden (P414.1 billion), government-owned and controlled corporations’ support (P187.1 billion), and tax expenditures (P14.5 billion)
The proposed P3.757 trillion for 2019 will be submitted to Congress on July 23 during President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).