Press Statement of Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph G. Recto
August 2, 2023

These are the four elephants in the room that the congressional scrutiny of the 2024 national budget will have to confront.

Disasters, of the natural kind, have now graduated as a macroeconomic assumption. Typhoons do not only alter the lay of the land, they also disrupt the fiscal landscape, by causing damages that depress economic growth, and incurring expenses required to repair them. Rebuilding damaged infrastructure, like a washed out road, is asset replacement; not creation of new asset. Walang idinagdag sa inventory; pinalitan lang.

Debt is rising, and so is the money required to service it. Covid has retreated but like in any war, what follows is the arduous task of paying for the high cost of victory. Not all symptoms of long Covid are of the medical kind, the fiscal one is painful too. Taxes being pushed, despite their clever marketing, are basically debt-driven.

Pagkain now takes centerstage. We may view the budget from various standard prisms. Pero ang pananaw ng ordinaryong mamamayan ay ganito: Ang perang mula sa kaban ng bayan ba ay magpupuno ng mga kalderong nauubusan ng laman? While agriculture spending must be boosted, it must be targeted well, with expenditures linked to productivity outcomes.

Payroll, including pension. This is the fastest growing expenditure class for two decades now. Reforms, with clear buy-in from stakeholders, must be rolled out. It is a political minefield that must be carefully treaded, but must be done. The copout of kicking the can down the road must end with this president.