The House of Representatives ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed P3.002-trillion national budget law for 2016 before adjourning last Dec. 16, 2015 for its month-long Christmas break.

With the Senate also ratifying the measure, the proposed 2016 General Appropriations Act will now be ready for President Benigno Aquino III’s signature, in time for it to become a law at the start of the coming fiscal year.

"Let me congratulate everyone for the timely passage of the 2016 GAA. For six consecutive years now, we have managed to pass the General Appropriations Act for the President's approval, and ready for implementation for the coming fiscal year. I believe, that we have now firmly established the new norm in the enactment of the national government budget," said Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr during his  speech at the adjournment of sessions last week.

"I need not elaborate on the importance and significance of the timely enactment of the budget. It is certainly a significant component in the improvement of public financial management and of the country's macroeconomic economic environment that has resulted in the upgrade of our credit rating and competitiveness ranking," the Speaker added.

The top 10 agencies in terms of budgetary allocations are: Department of Education (DepEd) P411.905 billion; Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) P384.287 billion; Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) P124.229 billion; Department of Health (DOH) P123.510 billion; Department of National Defense (DND) P117.521 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) P110.816 billion; Department of Agriculture (DA) P48.447 billion; State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) P47.414 billion; Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) P42.680 billion; and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) P28.492 billion.

The  four significant adjustments to the bill in the ratified bicameral conference committee report were: 1) the increase of P1.2 billion in the budget for indigent senior citizens; 2)  increase in the budget of state universities and colleges (SUCs) by P2.7 billion to cover their capital outlays; 3)  veterans' pension totaling P4.7 billion was sustained; and 4) provision of an additional P7 billion to fully fund the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) of 2015 for its first tranche of implementation next year.

The ratified report provides for  total programmed new appropriations of P2.071 trillion and unprogrammed funds of P67.5 billion.