Increase of P500M in PSC budget elates Bong Go

SENATOR Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, during Wednesday’s plenary deliberations on the proposed P2.25 billion budget of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), November 8, 2023, lauds the increase of P500 million in the proposed budget of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Go, chairperson of the Committee on Sports, said the increase is for the rehabilitation of sports facilities and support to athletes competing in international competitions. The senator noted that every time the PSC submits a budget proposal of P3 billion to the DBM, they were told that less than P200 million can be approved and they are hoping for Congress to increase their budget.

For next year, the PSC requested P3.3 billion budget but the DBM only approved P174 million, or 5 percent of the requested amount and 0.004 percent of the national budget.

“May we know the reason for this if the government truly considers sports as an instrument for nation building… maybe it’s high time that we allocate fund in the National Expenditure Program so that our athletes would not depend on Congress to get enough budget,” Go said.

Senator Sonny Angara, chairperson of the Finance Committee defending the budget, explained that the DBM finds it hard to distribute the budget considering that many agencies are asking for an increase in their budgets.