Guinto, Josiah Vonn Gabrielle A.

Argumentation and Debate

BPA 2-2 Prof. Christine Burgos

THE 2021 NATIONAL BUDGET OF DUTERTE

Just recently, a dispute over the House position rattled Congress and put an imminent
risk of a reenacted budget for the year 2021. The allies of Duterte, namely Cayetano and
Velasco, forced the president to call on the Congress to hold out a “special session” to pass the
P4.5-trillion government spending plan. Initially, my crosshairs were set on tackling the possible
drawbacks of a reenacted budget next year. As economists and experts suggest, it will most
certainly cripple our COVID response and exact a huge toll on our economy. But since that
situation has been removed from the equation, I will then shift my attention to Duterte’s National
Expenditure Program or the proposed 2021 Budget.
It has been argued by journalists and economic experts that this could probably be
Duterte’s worst budget proposal yet. But for the purposes of this paper, I will try to be objective
in order to extract the affirming and negative arguments from this subject matter. To give a
background on the proposed budget, it is set at P4.5-trillion, which is 10% larger than this year’s
P4.1-trillion.

AFFIRMING ARGUMENTS
1. The Department of Public Works and Highways will receive a massive 51% budget increase,
and the Department of Transportation a 39% increase. This staggering increase provides
leeway to operate for the Build, Build, Build infrastructure projects. In which I argue that this
prospect of infrastructure spending will fuel the resuscitations for the recession-hit economy of
the Philippines. In simple terms, this budget increase will induce economic growth since
infrastructure projects will multiply effects in terms of employment and shared prosperity. For
instance, private and public construction works can resume operation and provide employment
for Filipino workers.
2. The proposed budget will also allocate a large-sum of P16.4-billion to support Duterte’s life
mission to end the communist insurgency. This generous funding underlines the role of the anti-
insurgency task force and the president’s intent to end half-a-century old rebellion. P20-million
worth of livelihood programs will be released to communities that will be deemed as infiltrated or
threatened by the communist groups. This kind of prioritization especially in the middle of the
pandemic, upshot controversy. However, I argue that this funding will not just end the
communist insurgency, but will also prevent the further destruction of our youth and indigenous
people that is continuously being exploited by the Communist front organizations.

NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS
1. One would think that in this time of crisis, health spending and budget boosting goes without
saying. But disturbingly enough, the Department of Health’s budget this year will be reduced
from P181-billion to P131-billion. Significant provisions of personal protective equipment and
testing kits will no longer be made. Funding for our health workers will also take a hit. Moreover,
no significant budget increases for our health information technology or our COVID-19
surveillance mechanisms. And only P2.5-billion was allotted for the vaccine next year.
The argument to be made is very clear, Duterte’s plan to underfund the critical aspects of our
healthcare system, especially in the middle of a pandemic, will only result in catastrophe. The
government must funnel money to expand health infrastructures and to strengthen our public
health response; simply because that is the sound thing to do.
2. Ever since the pandemic, millions of Filipinos have been in desperate need of help to weather
each one’s loss of income and unemployment. However, Duterte and his economic managers
plan to slash budgets from pivotal agencies that mediate such economic aid or subsidies to our
fellow Filipinos. At this point in the analysis, I am convinced that this administration is deficient in
a functional brain and a moral compass.
They plan to cut the budget of DSWD in half, which means that cash transfers and beneficiaries
will become very limited. The Department of Labor and Employment will also get less
assistance to give out for our displaced workers and deported OFWs next year. The Department
of Tourism suffers the same fate. As well as the Department of Trade and Industry’s programs
for exporters and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). With this in mind, I argue that
the government must imitate the actions of other countries with regard to the provision of
economic aids. Instead of budget cuts, we must double down our provisions of cash transfers
for poor households, jobless citizens, and give out loans for SMEs. This will literally serve as a
lifeline for millions of Filipinos drowning in the detriments of a recession and prove a more
efficient way of stimulating the economy.
3. The education sector will get the lion’s share of the proposed 2021 budget. But I will blatantly
argue that this will still serve as insufficient since virtually all schools and universities are
transitioning to distance learning. And it comes with severe challenges that could only be
smoothened out with enough funds for the agencies of education: DepEd, CHED, and TESDA.
Take for example the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, it has struggled to meet the
demands of remote learning and also failed to attend to most of the concerns of its students.
Now, these are the outcomes of mismanagement in the university and the lack of funding. Both
reasons are interesting to ponder on but I will focus on the latter. Should the PUP receive a
sufficient budget for this transition phase, I believe that the university will be more able to
provide learning materials (modules, gadgets, and load-subsidies) efficiently.

A plethora of arguments can still be derived from the upcoming year’s budget proposal.
Although in all honesty, I am utterly disgusted on how detached Duterte and his economic
managers are from the realities of the pandemic and the economic recession. It seems to me
that situation of the Philippines warrants more than a mediocre set of programs and bad policies
which are unfit to resolve our current problems. Indeed, a budget only becomes a tool of
development when properly handled by officials. In our case, it is evident that we are being
hijacked by our own government. This is why we need to pay close attention to the budget
deliberations and as much as possible participate in civic actions when the need arises to
intervene.
Sources:

Cepeda, M. (2020, October 16). Velasco delivers: House meets own deadline to pass 2021
budget despite leadership change. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from
https://www.rappler.com/nation/house-meets-deadline-approve-2021-budget-october-
2020

Punongbayan, J. (2020, October 08). [ANALYSIS] How Cayetano's greed endangers PH

economy's recovery. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-how-cayetano-greed-endangers-
economy-recovery

Punongbayan, J., Abad, L., & Suzara, Z. (2020, September 04). [ANALYSIS] Why you should
be alarmed by Duterte's 2021 budget. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-why-you-should-be-alarmed-
duterte-2021-budget

Suzara, Z., Mangilit, R., Punongbayan, J., Abad, L., & Villanueva, L. (2020, July 17).
[ANALYSIS] Why we can't Build, Build, Build our way out of this pandemic. Retrieved
October 26, 2020, from https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-why-we-
cannot-build-our-way-out-of-coronavirus-pandemic

Terrazola, V. (2020, October 09). Sotto rules out possibility of a reenacted budget in 2021.
Retrieved October 26, 2020, from https://mb.com.ph/2020/10/09/sotto-rules-out-
possibility-of-a-reenacted-budget-in-2021/